In Memory: The Darrow Legacy
by DarrowLegacy
Summary: Everyone must leave something behind when he or she dies. For Lucius Darrow, a son of the Roman god of war, Mars, it was his story. Now his secrets belong to his daughter, Katrina, who faces perils of her own. Enter the world of demigod legacies and complete the circle in... The Darrow Legacy. 15-20 years after HoO series. Part 1 of 5 of In Memory series. M for war violence.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Prologue**

_"Only the dead have seen the end to war,"_ - Plato

**Terror**. That was how Lucius felt when he ran into battle. His friends stood beside him, while his enemies stood against him. Even with his friends fighting with him he still felt terror. Every step against the earth felt like dragging a mountain. He was a son of Mars, Rome's proud god of war. But even if the fate of the world was depending on his part, deep down, he was scared.

_What if we lose?_

_What if we suffer heavy losses?_

_What if I won't make it out alive?_

These questions riddled his mind as he marched in formation with the Second Cohort. His half-brother lead the battalion. Lucius wondered if he felt the same way. Then again, Marcus was a gladiator when he wasn't a soldier. But then again, so was Lucius.

The battlefield expanded before him as he advanced closer and closer to his enemy. This was where they would put an end to Mother Earth and the Giants once and for all. The Legion had mobilized, moving forward as a unit. The Greeks, his friends, New Rome's allies in this fight, kept with their pace. Every demigod had taken up arm against this threat. If they were going down, they would all go down. There was no escape, no second chances. Fight or die. This was the creed he trained under for the last year and a half. But the son of Mars didn't feel ready.

He collided with monsters of the varying sorts, some he had seen, and some he had wished he had never seen. Unlike their enemy, the demigod was not designed to become a killing machine, bent on only the destruction of any and all opposition. The monsters, however, were merciless, breaking through lines and even eating half-bloods in the middle of attacks. Terror spread through the lines as they fended off monster after monster.

The power their enemy wielded grew stronger, their tactics and their malice were matched only by their lethal minions and leaders. Facing a Giant was difficult, defeating one even harder. And then there were the revived mortals who pledged their allegiances to Terra. Lucius had dealt with one of them personally, saving New Rome. But now he was a soldier, not a hero. The heroes he was taught as a demigod always ended up dying. Lucius did not want to die.

The son of Mars fought bitterly, fighting to keep everyone else alive, fighting to keep himself alive. Their fight was for survival. No amount of training had prepared him for Tartarus. No yield of skill, wit, or strength would have been able to prepare for what war really meant. Everyone around him died. The screaming and shouting were almost enough for him to fall back, to run away. But he couldn't. There were no retreats. It was victory or death. They wagered the world just to live it another day. Most would not live to see the outcome.

Death was not a new concept to Lucius. He had experienced the murder of his half-sister and her father. He had been witness to the death of a close friend. He had been the cause of death for dozens. But the aura in this battlefield was an enemy on its own. Even the strongest of demigods were either shell-shocked or caught in shock as they were battered against and battered against foe.

But even in the chaos and madness, there was an end. Before they were overpowered, the call was made. The sounds of victory rallied through end to end. Monsters of all shapes and sizes routed, whilst the victorious demigods cheered throwing helmets, shields, and other pieces of armor up into the air in celebration. The wearing years of waging war with the Earth had finally come to an end. No longer would the Giants threaten their future. Lucius' last fight was fought.

Or so he thought.


	2. Chapter 1: The End

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is told from the POV of Katrina Darrow, its word count being 8,807.

**Chapter I: The End**

**They always say that you're supposed to always find the silver lining in everything, even the bad.** But I couldn't find it the day Daddy died. I had just finished my first year in the Legion. The Second Cohort was one of the hardest to train in, especially after what my Dad and his half-brother had done to raise the bar. Mommy was a little disappointed when I decided to join Daddy's Cohort. The weird thing was that he never held the position of Centurion when she did.

It was just a week after I had gotten back from the Legion. Mommy had been able to use her extra service years in the Third Cohort to pay for small-sized estate on the corner of Legionnaire Way and Caesar Avenue, just a block away from the Via Praetoria, the main road that led into New Rome. Daddy's gladiator days payed for most of the furniture. He had always told about a time when he had an entire corporation that made millions of dollars. He used a lot of it to pay for Uncle Jacob and Auntie Erin's boarding house in the middle of Indiana. They ended up calling it "The Black Hand Boarding House." Daddy always told me there was a story behind that.

The rest of the money was given to two fauns named Rogan and Grover. I knew Rogan, who always hung out around the entrance to New Rome. Sometimes Rogan would come to visit, ask us how we were doing. Other times he would just stand around outside from across the street, watching us or something nearby. It was kind of creepy. I had never met a faun named Grover.

But the more I thought about the stories Daddy always told me, the more I remembered how much I missed him and that he wasn't here anymore. I remembered how much I cried that day.

We - Mommy, Daddy, and my little seven year-old brother, Jacob, were enjoying a day at the lake. People usually took their kids there to hang out. Sometimes people went on dates there. Mommy always smiled when she saw a boy and girl in a boat together.

Every time we went to the lake, Daddy always took us to a secret spot that most people didn't know about. It was a tree grove that was settled on a large collection of boulders. Over time, they became really big rocks. Mommy always said that they were from the second war she fought in. We had a picnic up there, just the four of us. After we ate, Jacob began tugging at Mommy's dress.

"Mommy, can I go play in the lake?" he asked. He always made his eyes big when he wanted to get something from her. It always worked.

"Of course you can," she said, kissing him on the top of his head. "Remember to use the trick I taught you."

Daddy gave her a look, with his blood red eyes. Daddy never told me why his eyes were different from everyone else's or even different than how they used to be from when he was younger. His skin was also really white, like chalk. And his hair was really black, even blacker than mine, or Mommy's. She always said that Daddy was just born different from everyone else. But he never talked about it.

Jacob was already out on the lake, down to his swimming shorts that he had brought. He ran on out to the water and jumped. Mommy had been teaching him how to use his powers while he stayed at home during my first year in the Legion.

Now, most people would be expecting a splash of some kind, but in our family, playing in the water was always... [i]different[/i]. Instead of crashing into the water, Jacob jumped and ended up on top of the water's surface. He was walking on water.

"Mommy, look what I can do!" Jacob shouted from where he stood on the lake. He ran around in circles on the water, being able to stand on it because of Grandpa, who just happened to be Neptune, the god of the rivers and sea. If it weren't for him, Jacob would have been swimming in icky lake water. But soon, something began to attract his attention, causing him to lose focus. Jacob stumbled for second, fighting to keep his balance. For a second, he seemed fine, but suddenly, he dropped straight into the water.

Daddy seemed worried for a second, standing up with a worried look on his face. Mommy sat where she was, as if nothing really happened. Then a small grin began to grow on her face. What was she smiling about?

In the next second, two figures began gliding through the water. They looked like people, except that were made out of water. Women that were made out of water.

Naiads.

The story goes that every river, spring, or lake had naiads that ruled over it. A lot of them disappeared over time, which was why Daddy gave a lot of money to Grover the faun. Two of them, however, were pulling Jacob around, laughing and giggling as he sped through the lake's waters. My little brother was screaming and begging them to slow down. Mommy and Daddy laughed.

I saw a group of people coming towards us. There were four of them. When they got closer, I realized there were two adults and twin girls. The father had dark, black hair, and sea green eyes, like Mommy, while the mother had light blue eyes and long, caramel-brown hair. One of the girls had brown hair and sea green eyes while the other had long, black hair and bright blue eyes. Except for their eye and hair color, they looked exactly the same.

"Lucius, Carolina, is that you?" the man asked as they got within talking distance. Mommy and Daddy went over to greet. I decided to follow them. "My gods, its been forever since we've seen you!"

"I know, its been, what.. 15 years since the war ended?" Daddy said, shaking hands and hugging the man. Mommy hugged the woman. "Its been a long time, Darrien. This must be your wife, but who are these two?"

"Yes, this is my wife, Arabella, and my two daughters, Joanna and Gwendolyn," The man called Darrien introduced. The girl with black hair was Joanna, and the girl with caramel-brown hair was Gwendolyn. Everything started making sense now. "Girls, say hello."

"Hello," the two girls said in unison. I was a little freaked out by that, but then Darrien and Arabella laughed, so it must have been normal. The twins looked about my age, but maybe a year younger. I noticed Jacob came out from the lake, without a single drop of water coming off of him. That was Grandpa Neptune's fault. He came over and stood by me.

"Hello, there," Mommy said, putting her hands on Jacob's shoulders. "Kids this is your Aunt Arabella and Uncle Darrien, and these two are your- "

"Cousins?" Jacob blurted out. The only cousin that we both really knew and hung out with was Trent, who was Uncle Jacob's and Aunt Erin's son. We usually visited their home in Indiana every summer, so we were planning on taking a vacation pretty soon.

"Yes, your cousins, Jacob," Daddy said in firm voice. "Don't be rude."

"I'm Jacob," my little brother introduced. That meant it was my turn.

"And I'm Katrina," I greeted, putting on an awkward smile.

"Nice to meet you," Auntie Arabella said smiling.

"So what brings you guys out here?" Mommy asked.

"We wanted to get the girls started in the Legion next year," Darrien answered. "We were actually just visiting before we had them stay at Camp Half-blood for the summer. They'll be old enough and ready to start their service in the Legion. That should keep them busy for the next ten years."

"Oh really?" Daddy said. I had already finished my first year in the Legion, yet these two girls, my cousins, had not yet begun. "Katrina is actually taking the summer off after finishing her first year. We were actually going to visit Jacob and your sister in a couple of weeks. Maybe you guys would be available then?"

"You guys were going to go see Erin?" Uncle Darrien asked. He rubbed his chin, as if he were thinking for a moment. "Yeah, I think we would love to go with you guys. I haven't seen her since last year, so we might as well. I believe Trent is the same age as the girls."

"He really takes on like his father," Mommy said. "Its almost like there's two of them running around. It must drive her insane time to time."

That's everyone began to laugh. Daddy seemed to glance off at something when he wasn't talking to Uncle Darrien and Auntie Arabella. I was about to ask what was wrong, but then they were almost done talking.

"We'll have to keep in contact," Mommy said. Then everyone said their goodbyes, even Daddy. He had been acting strangely for some reason. When Uncle Darrien and Auntie Arabella and the cousins left, Mommy began asking Daddy some questions.

"Is something wrong, Lucius?" Mommy asked, putting a hand on his back and rubbing it.

"Yeah, I just remembered I had to do something," he said, glancing his blood red eyes back at me. They looked afraid for a moment, but then he smiled and kissed Mommy.

"Ew, gross," Jacob said, trying to get away from them.

"I love you," Daddy said, staring right into her eyes. They kissed again and I almost wanted to throw up. "And I love you guys, more than you could ever know. I'll meet you guys back at the house."

"Alright, just... just be careful, okay?" Mommy said, a small tear starting slip down her cheek. Daddy went off and she wiped her face. What could be wrong?

"Mommy, what's wrong?" I asked, not sure of what was going on.

"Nothing, Kat," she said, her voice unsteady. "Its just something that your father needs to do."

The three of us stayed at the lake. Mommy took us both by the hand and played on the lake. People usually freaked out when we played on top of the lake and not in the water like regular people. Then again, nobody in this town was really normal. We played around for a couple of hours. I wasn't really good with my powers, except when it came to weapons. I was really good with the gladius, but when it came to walking on water, Mommy and Jacob were the best. Still, I wasn't afraid to go into the water, I just felt better using a weapon than water. I could never even think about starting earthquakes like how Uncle Percy used to.

After we got tired of playing on the water, I went to go find a bathroom. I knew there was a back-road somewhere behind the boulders that few people knew about. It was a really quick way to get in and around the lake, so I decided to take that path. As I walked through the lonely road, I was completely alone. The sounds of playing children and standing water could be heard from over here. It was quiet, which was nice to have after playing around on the water.

I walked through the quiet path, kicking rocks that were on the road. I thought about my cousins who I had just met. It made me feel older knowing that my Joanna and Gwendolyn were going to enlist in the Legion next year. Then I thought Trent, my other cousin. I remembered that he only spent the summers with his parents, like I did. But he wasn't a Roman, he was Greek. He went to some place Mommy and Daddy called "Camp Half-blood." I had never been there, but I have always wanted to see it.

But even in the quiet, I heard someone's voice calling out something. It sounded like a very thirsty man, so I ran over to where I thought it was coming from. It came from somewhere down the hill of the path, so I ran down the hill, kicking up rocks as ran. I was only a few yards away when I saw a pair of feet laying on the ground. A tree blocked off the rest of my view, so I came around from the corner. I saw a man holding out his hand. It shook, as if he wasn't strong enough to hold it up, but then he dropped it.

My eyes widened when I saw who the dying man was. No words came out from my mouth. Instead, I ran up to him, checking to see if he was okay.

"Daddy, are you okay?" I begged. I tried moving his head, but it was heavy. His eyes were still open, but I realized that they were not the blood red color I was used to. They were a warm hazel color. But as warm as they were, there was no life in them. "No, Daddy, please, not like this! Please!"

I started crying into his chest. I felt no heartbeat from him. My hands curled as I sobbed heavily. He was gone. Forever. He would never be coming back. No matter how hard I cried and begged, he would always be dead. But I still cried on him as if he were still there, watching over his little girl.

"We were supposed to visit Cousin Trent, remember?" I asked him, still crying into his chest. I put his hand against my face, to protect from everything. It felt heavy as it dragged across my face. It fell off and I cried even more. There was nothing from him. No life at all. "Please, Daddy, don't die. Dad, please... "

I cried myself to sleep on him. My dreams were memories of all the good times and then there were bad dreams. Dreams of the future without him. I was scared to face the world knowing that he wouldn't be there to help me through it. I woke up to the sight of Mommy trying to pick me up. I flew myself instantly into her arms, crying once again. The pain revived in me, creating the same sadness as before.

"Its okay," she said, her voice as sad as mine. "Its okay, I'm here."

It had been two days since I found him there. Today was the day for his funeral pyre, for his body and soul must pass into the next phase of life - the Underworld. Most people would just bury their dead, but we were different. But still, it would have been nice to feel like a regular family. But I knew that was never going to happen. Not without Dad.

I had cried for almost the last two days ever since he died. Mom cried a lot too, but Jacob was really quiet. I don't know how he took it, but he never showed anything. He used to be so active, now he's just barely alive. It must have been really hard for him.

The pyre took place atop Temple Hill, where the temples and shrines were built to honor all the gods. Everyone was huddled inside the temple of Mars Ultor, which was Latin for "Mars the Avenger." From the outside, it looked like a huge red dome with red clouds. Occasionally, one could see red lightning strike from its dark nimbus. The temple was supposedly the second largest, the largest being Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

Before we got to Temple Hill, a black parade coursed through New Rome, and then to the pyre. I guess Dad must have been really important to the city if everyone closed down their shops just to come out to see the procession. Everyone wore black and stood by one the streets and sidewalks. I walked in front of the carriage with Mom and Jacob. I wore a black dress that ran just up to below my knees. It was held up by two strings, exposing my the top of my back and shoulders. Mom wore a black veil over her face and a black dress that that went down to her ankles. She had the saddest face that day. Even the sky darkened with sadness. Gray clouds swirled and molted together to show how sad it was.

It was hard to walk down the streets without making eye contact with people. It felt as if the whole city was watching me. I kept my eyes on the street, but it was not to look up and around. Uncle Jacob walked with Mom, in a black suit. He and Dad were like brothers. Dad even named his own son after him, which must have meant something about their relationship. I just wanted to run away from all this, to go and play a War Game, something to take my mind off the pain. But I was here and he wasn't. And I would have to go through with this, whether I wanted to or not.

Inside the temple, Dad's body lay on a pile of wood, stacked on several layers, in the center of the temple. He was dressed in his armor that he wore during his years in the Legion. The dozen medals and awards that he usually wore to special events were not on his chest today. They were being kept at the house, framed, hanged on the wall. The only thing that couldn't be taken off were the tattoos on his left wrist. I remembered when I was younger how many times I would the number of black stripes on his left forearm. There were more than I dozen. He had gotten ten of them from each year he was in the Legion. I remembered when he would come home from working for almost a year up until I was six years old.

There were over a hundred of people in the temple, as well as dozens outside and even more waiting and listening on Temple Hill. There were even several scary looking men and women who stood by the statues. One of them dressed exactly like Mars... Grandpa.

"Don't stare, Katrina," Mom warned, her eyes still fixed on Dad. I took one last glance at the scary looking people and thought for a second. Were they really the gods? I looked back to a podium that was set up in front of a larger statue of Mars. Uncle Jacob walked up to begin the service.

"Today, we gather here to remember. We are here to remember a great contribution to the City of New Rome and Mount Olympus. We are here, to remember our friend, brother, son, and father, Lucius Darrow," Uncle Jacob said. "It was 15 years ago when this man, who, at the time, was just a child, finding his way into this world. He was always afraid. Not that he knew his days were numbered, but he was afraid not being to make a difference. I can say with pride that he did make a difference, not just on many, but on the ones who truly mattered. Despite the losses and bad days, he continued to strive to make a difference. His willpower was matched only by the gods... "

Some people looked over to the people in shining armor. They really must have been the gods from Olympus.

"... but now he doesn't need to fight anymore," he continued. "I know right now he's standing before the the three judges and they're just begging him to go back, saying, 'You're too good for us here, go back where you belong!'"

The temple of Mars Ultor exploded in laughter. Uncle Jacob always had a way with talking to people. He could convince almost anyone to something, no matter how ridiculous it was. He was truly a son of Hermes. Trent was the same way.

"I know things won't be the same without you, buddy," Uncle Jacob said. "But I just want to let you know, you did a good job. You really did. Stay strong, Lucius, forever."

An applause built up among the attendants. Uncle Jacob stood down from the podium, allowing someone else to speak. Some of them were Romans from the War with the Giants. Their names were on the tip of my tongue, but I just couldn't name them. Then there were some Greek heroes. The same happened with this group of people. I guess I wasn't really into them that day.

After the old heroes spoke, some of Dad's old friends came to speak. One of them was Uncle Marcus, who had a lovely woman attend the service with him. Dad always reminded me to say the name "Reyna" around him. It was supposed to tease him, but like the old heroes, I didn't feel up to it.

"I can't say I'm necessarily happy that I'm here talking about a fallen hero, a brother," Uncle Marcus began to speak. He was dressed in his outfit from his years in the Legion. Like Dad, he had medals and awards on his armor, but twice as many. He even had a purple sash that flew down from the back of his armor, which was one of the greatest honors a soldier could ever receive. Dad had one of those, but like the medals, they were being kept locked away.

"But I can say that as a brother and superior officer, he was the ideal soldier," Uncle Marcus continued. He was always the military type, even when he held the office of Praetor for a couple of years, like two or three. He visited sometimes, but was always busy running his own gladiator ludus. I went to visit it once and ever since, I've always wanted to compete, but Mom and Dad would never let me. Well, now it would be just Mom who would never let me. I remembered Dad once fought in a match under his sponsorship once for some kind of festival. I barely remember it, but I do remember it was when Mom was pregnant with Jacob. "He wasn't just the soldier who would obey orders, but he would question you when it came to the cost of the greater good. No Centurion could have ever been more proud than I to have not just the soldier who obeyed an order, but a soldier with a heart for his city. Its too bad we had to fight over the lovely Reyna, but I can see we both won in our own right. Its been a tough fight, Lucius, but its time you took a break. Don't worry, you did well."

Again, people began clapping, some of the old Roman heroes began tearing up, their eyes red and puffy. Dad had a lot of friends in the Legion, and even people who weren't part of the regular army. He also had a lot Greek friends, like Uncle Jacob and Uncle Ryan. But his Romans were still taking turns saying their parts. Uncle Darrien was one of those people.

"I remember when Lucius and Jacob found me when I lived among the mortals, all it took was a knife held up to my throat to convince me that I was living the wrong life," Uncle Darrien said with a bit of joking manner. Since Dad died when he was there, he and his family had been staying with us for the past two days. "He's done more for me than I could have ever asked for. Thank you, Lucius."

The next person to talk about Dad was a tall, red-haired man. Like Dad's other Roman friends, he wore his armor from his days in the Legion. He wasn't as decorated as Marcus, but more than Dad. A lot of people had their eyes on him, like he was supposed to something.

"Oh, Lucius, its been one heck of a ride," the red-haired man said with a bit of an accent. Irish? That's what it sounded like to me. "It took a hit from you and a certain son of Hermes to get me to realize who I really was. And it took a couple of even bigger hits from you to help me realize what I was becoming. It was a dark time of my life, so addicted to power like that, but you cured me of it. I don't think I would be able to stand here today if it weren't for you. I've been wondering how things would have been different, you know? If our places were switched. We were so different, yet so alike. But no, this is how things must play out. How could do this to us, Lucius?"

Some people were a little upset with what the red-haired man with the Irish accent said. Dad never really spoke of him.

After Dad's Roman friends spoke, a couple of adults dressed in black came one by one. I could recognize Uncle Ryan and Aunt Leah, Aunt Erin, and even Aunt Kori, but most of those people I had never met. Dad never really showed me his Greek friends. The first to come up was Uncle Ryan, Dad's half-brother. He said a few words, before letting this really dark man. He stood next to really beautiful woman and a pretty daughter, but I had never met them.

"Most of you might not know this, but I was the reason behind Lucius' attendance amongst us Greeks," the dark man said. Some people looked around at each other. I guess a lot of people didn't really know this guy. "The first thing he said to me when he got to Camp Half-blood was, 'As soon as this war ends, I'm gonna take you out.' At first, I didn't think he was serious, but when the war did end, well. I was in for a rude awakening. You see, he wasn't just a good fighter, but he kept his word. He helped me find the love of my life. And he was a good friend. I'll see you on the other side, Luc."

Next up was a man in dark, but expensive-looking suit. He had black hair and stormy-blue eyes. He had a similar facial makeup like Mom, which was kind of weird.

"I came here to grieve over the loss of a friend," the man in the expensive suit said. "I know I'm being terribly blunt right now, but its true. Through thick and thin, we've tackled monsters of unthinkable scales, taken on some of the hardest of challenges. I remembered the first time we faced off in a competition. He was unforgiving with the blade. But even in that kind of frenzy, I saw that he had found his niche. He was a fighter, on every level. The disease that he'd been diagnosed with, he had been fighting that for his whole life. He never gave up. That's what I've always admired about him. No monster, demigod, or even god... could keep him back. He was like this unstoppable force. I still can't believe that he had to leave so early."

After the man had stepped down, I saw that he started crying off-stage, where he was embraced by some of his Greek friends. After he was done crying, Aunt Kori came up. It had been a couple of years since I had last seen her and Cousin Ellen.

"I was one of the first to know about his condition," Aunt Kori said a little sad. She looked like she was going to cry. Whenever Dad talked about her, he always talked about his mortal half-sister, who died around the same time he met Aunt Kori. Mom said that Aunt Kori reminded Dad of his mortal half-sister. "Unfortunately, it was right after we had a huge fight. The worst part about it was that we didn't even know we were siblings. Maybe if I had just... I don't know. There could have been something I could have done to help. I wish things could have been... fixed, like with that one time when we were attacked by Lycaon. I'm sorry, brother. I really wanted you to stick around."

A lot people began crying when Aunt Kori finished talking. Some of the people in New Rome knew about her. More than I had thought. The last speaker was Aunt Erin. From what Mom and Dad told me, she had died once before in a battle that took place in the Field of Mars. Somehow, she ended up back in the regular world. Dad always liked to call her a zombie from time to time.

"The last time there was a funeral pyre like this here, I was the one being burnt, and Lucius was the one in chains," Aunt Erin began to say. She was always so nice to Dad when he was around. "Its been a long time since then. A lot has changed. People moved on. Families were raised. But the one thing that stayed was a reason. When Lucius was with us at Camp Half-blood, he always felt left out. And when he got here, he felt even more of an outsider, being around us for so long. But he found a reason to stay. He didn't have to run anymore. He found a beautiful wife, had two great kids, and Hades, he even has a training regiment in Camp Half-blood made by him that the following generations still use. Its still hard to believe that just one man could make so much of a difference. But he wasn't just any man. He was Lucius Darrow. And he was one of the greatest demigods I ever knew."

After Aunt Erin was finished speaking, people began to form a line that went right past Dad's body. Everyone had a flower in their hand. A daffodil, the birth flower of March, from the month Dad was born in. And one of Grandpa Mars' favorite flowers. Every person who passed by him said a few words then placed a daffodil on his body. When everyone was done, Uncle Jacob poured over some kind of water on Dad's body. Aunt Erin came forward with a torch and gave it Uncle Jacob, who gave it to Mom. She stood there for a moment, looking at Dad for one last time. She wanted to cry so badly again, but she was in front of everyone. But she did what nobody wanted to do. She lit the pyre. Flame by flame, my Dad burned away. The flowers were the first to go. After a couple of minutes, some of the gods left, even an older man who sat in wheelchair rolled away. While the fires burned inside, the rain pounded outside. I hated that day.

The after service took place back at the house. People didn't really want to go outside and caught in the rain, so most of the rooms were full of mourners. I met a lot of new people that day. I never knew I had an Aunt Thea and an Uncle Chris. They were all sad about him dying and they told me about how great a man he was. But even as hard as they tried to make me feel better, nothing could replace him.

Aunt Erin took care of my brother and her son, Trent, while Uncle Jacob went to take care of Mom. She seemed even more sad than I was about it. Except that one time in the temple, she never said anything that day. It made everything feel even worse. I prayed to both of my Grandpas begging them to bring him back, but I knew they wouldn't listen. Nobody saw how much pain I was in. That was until someone came up to me.

"Hey, Katrina," a boy said. His voice sounded like one of my from friends from the Second Cohort. I looked up and saw it was that person. "Do you want to talk?"

"Howard?" I asked, a little shocked by his sudden appearance. He was a legacy of Venus, with a brown hair and eyebrows that reminded me of Dad. "What are you doing here?"

"Our Dad's used to be friends, I guess," he said, shrugging. He sat down beside me with a glass of punch in his hand. He was dressed in his armor from his three years in the Legion. Howard was two years older than me, but we were still really good friends. But what threw me off next was our Dad's being old friends. "So I guess its only fair that we came."

"Wait, you came with your Dad, where is he?" I asked, seeing as I had never met any other Amos than Howard. I was busy trying to guess which person from the room he was. Howard was light-skinned and had brown hair. He also had subtle blue eyes. I never guessed right. "I can't find him."

"He's actually talking to your Mom and your Uncle," Howard corrected. Pointing to the hallway that led back to Dad's old personal office. What were they talking about? It had to be something about Dad, for sure, but my curiosity was getter the best of me. But then I wondered how he knew who my Uncle was. I must have told him during my first year in the Legion, I guessed. It seemed like what most likely happened. "Over back in some office place. Was it your Dad's?"

"Yeah, it was," I said, my voice trailing off. I was too focused on what was being discussed behind closed doors. I wanted to know, but I couldn't just leave Howard behind after he was so nice to me. Standing up, I came up with a plan. "Lets go see what they're talking about."

"Uh, Katrina, I don't think that's the best idea," he said, grabbing my arm. He had a strong grip, even for a legacy of Venus. "Why don't we go see your cousin?"

"That's okay," I said, pulling his hand off my arm. He really did have a strong grip. "He's going to be staying with us for a while. So its not like I'm not going to be able to see him. Besides, I want to listen to what they're talking about."

"It's not really the best- " Howard began to say before he sighed. It was easy to convince him to do something for me. But I think he didn't want to argue with me just because of today. "Fine, but don't say I didn't tell you not to."

"Fine," I said with a grin. I grabbed by the hand and we went down the hallway to where Dad's old office was. The door was closed, and I didn't want to try to open the door to a crack. Trent was better with these kinds of things. Howard still had his glass and drinking out of it. I tried everything that I could, from putting my ear up against the wall, to trying to see through the keyhole. Nothing worked.

"Here, let me try," Howard, finishing the last sip to his drink. He put the cup against the wall and focused in on the discussion from the other side of the door. "I think I can hear them. Something about some stuff your Dad left behind that he wants. Must be some really important stuff. They're arguing. Your Uncle is doing most of the talking for your Mom. He doesn't sound happy."

"Is that it?" I asked, leaning in a little to the door. "What else?"

"There's more, they want you to-" Howard said before the door opened and we both fell through. A tall, light-black man towered over the two of us. He had deep blue eyes that made his glare even scarier. His black hair had pinches of gray, to show that he wasn't young, but he definitely wasn't too old.

"Oh, hi, Father," Howard said, before getting up. I decided that I didn't want to be the only person lying on the floor so I followed suit. "We were just uh... "

"Listening in on our conversation?" Mr. Amos asked in a stern voice, the kind that parents used before they were about to punish their kids. "Do you think we just closed the door for any other reason?"

"And you, Katrina," Uncle Jacob said in the same kind of voice. I had never seen that look on his face before. I was used to seeing him smiling and joking around with Trent. "You know there are certain things that only the adults need to talk about!"

"But you were about to talk about me!" I said in my defense. I went off of what Howard was about to tell me, but I could have been wrong. Still, it wasn't fair that they were talking about me when I wasn't allowed to hear any of it. "I can't just let you guys do that, its not fair!"

Both Uncle Jacob and Howard's Dad looked at each other then looked back at me. Mom didn't say anything, but just kept her head down. Mr. Amos took another glance at Uncle Jacob, who nodded. That was when they started to explain what was going on.

"Katrina, your father, with everything he's done, has acquired some very... interestingobjects," Mr. Amos began to explain. He went over to behind Dad's desk and looked at the case of his old sword, Vicis. "Some of these objects have significant cultural and personal value to me and other individuals. I would like to see them return to their origins."

"But, what I was telling Mr. Amos here, was that these objects belonged to Lucius, and should go to his next of kin," Uncle Jacob said, right after Mr. Amos was done talking. "Its only fair that they have something of his to hold on to. You can't take everything from them."

"I see your point, Mr. Epperson," Mr. Amos finally said, rubbing his eyes. They looked like they had been arguing for awhile, and wanted to find a solution to their problem. Even Mom being quiet the whole time look like she wanted this to end quick. "Fine, I will be able to part with the sword that I had given him. Vicis shall be given to his firstborn son."

"He's just a child, you know he's not ready to be wielding a sword," Uncle Jacob argued. Mom took a look at me with her sad face. I knew what I had to do.

"What if I got the sword?" I asked, interrupting both of them. They looked at me like the idea had never come across their minds, but that might have been good for me. "I mean, I've already finished a year in the Legion, so its not like I don't know how to use one."

"I see your point, young lady," Mr. Amos said, rubbing his chin. He then took the case off the wall and put it on Dad's desk. After wiping the dust off of the glass, Mr. Amos opened the case and pulled out a black scabbard, with a hilt that showed that it was a gladius. He walked over to me, holding the weapon like it was some kind of relic.

"This sword's history is tale of great tragedy of not just your father, but of its previous owners," Mr. Amos said, as he placed it in my hands. It felt like any other gladius. I pulled out the blade, which felt like a natural movement to me. The sword's blade looked like it was made of different kinds of metals, sparkling with different kinds of colors. I was used to using Imperial Gold, but I knew I would have to learn more about this weapon. "I only hope that your legacy will not live up to its predecessors."

"Thanks, I guess," I said, putting the blade back into the sheath. It was kind of hard to describe how I felt when I got Dad's old sword. Part of me felt like he was going to be there, to take me for a training lesson with it the next day. The other part of me felt that by me taking sword was only showing how much he was never going to come back. I was sad and happy. "Was there anything else of his that you wanted?"

"There are some other things that we'll need to dispute over, but this was one of the more personal items," Mr. Amos said, going back to pull out other things that belonged to Dad. He looked to Howard, who left right after. "There is another matter that requires your assistance. You have already- "

Just then, the sound of hooves clopping on hardwood flooring preceded a faun busting into the room. The goat -man wore a scarf around his neck, with the end hanging over his shoulder. As clumsy as he was, I immediately recognized who he was.

"Rogan! What are you doing here?" Mr. Amos asked, shocked by the faun's sudden barging. "We were in the middle of an important conversation!"

"Sorry, Willy, really I am," the faun said sarcastically. I fought really hard to stop my self from laughing. He took a look around, his hands firmly tightened on a satchel-bag. "Saw your kid on the way in... told me you guys were here, and oh, yeah! I have a delivery to... where is she?"

Rogan turned around and was staring me down from where he hovered over me. Rogan and I weren't strangers, in fact, he would often walk with me whenever Howard wasn't around. Like Mr. Amos, he was also a friend of Dad's, but since he was a faun, he was a really, really old friend of Mr. Amos. By now, he must have been at least 30 in goat years. But even with his age, he was still the same goat Dad always told me about.

"Oh, hi there, Ms. Darrow," the faun said with a breath of garlic and other pizza toppings. "Sorry about your Dad. He was a pretty cool guy. Anyway, this is for you."

"F-for me?" I asked. I wasn't expecting any kind of delivery from anyone. Even most mail cards were usually sent to the mailbox. Rogan didn't even work for the Mercury Post Office. Why would he be delivering something to me? "Who is it from?"

"Open it," Rogan said, giving me the satchel-bag. "Don't worry, I didn't peak."

I opened it up from by popping off the metal clip that held the flap down. Inside, were a bunch of scrolls, but on top of that was an envelope. I walked over to Dad's desk to the bag down while I focused on the envelope.

"Its... from Dad," I said blankly. Was this my prayers being answered? Could there really be a chance that he wouldn't be gone forever? I read the letter over a couple of times. It was written in Latin, the Legion's native language. Unlike my parents, I wasn't completely dyslexic like they were. I could read and write English just as easily as they could read and write Latin.

Dear Katrina,

If you're reading this, then the worst has occurred. I have been planning for this day for a very long time, even before you were born. Inside the satchel are set of scrolls. Mind you, these are no ordinary scrolls. I have recorded all that I can all the way up to my last day. I'm sorry that I can't be there for and your Mom and your brother, but this as I said before, this day has been predetermined. Even before I was born. I hope you can understand that there was nothing I could do to stop it. But I hope that what I've left you will be able to help you. Now its up to you to decide what to do with these scrolls. I urge that you go through all of them before you decide to show anyone else. I hope you know that you, your Mom, and your brother, so very much.

Love with all my heart,

Dad

I took another look in the satchel-bag, and saw the scrolls again. I also noticed that there were a couple more envelopes. I dug in and took all of the letters out. Each one was named for a certain person. I found one for Mom and Uncle Jacob. I even found one for "William Amos."

"What did you find?" Uncle Jacob asked. He came over to see what I was pulling out. I gave him the envelope with his name on it. "What's this?"

"Its a letter, from Dad," I said, taking out the one for Mr. Amos. I gave it to him as he walked up to me. Even Mom was curious, as silent as she had been. I handed her the letter with her name on it - "Carolina." As soon as they got their letters, they opened them up and studied them intensely.

"The translation is terrible," Uncle Jacob muttered to himself. He was built to read Ancient Greek, not Latin. As soon as they were all done, they reacted differently. "There are others? If you want, I could deliver them for you. A lot of those names you probably won't even recognize."

"Uh, sure, Uncle Jacob," I said, as I handed him the stack of letters full of names that I really had no clue as to who they were. Dad must have made a lot of friends if he wanted all these people to get these letters. It almost made mine feel not important. Then again, there were all those scroll recordings in the bag.

"What's this?" Uncle Jacob said as he picked out one of envelopes while sorting them. He looked over to Rogan and handed it to him. "Its for you. Here, take it."

"Oh, really?" the faun said happily. He clopped over to take the letter. He read it aloud. "[i]Dear Rogan, now that your part is done you may now escort yourself from my house. Get out, now. Sincerely, Lucius. [/i]Gee, thanks. Well, I'll see you guys later."

And that was the last I saw of Rogan that day. Mr. Amos put on his coat and looked like he was ready to go.

"Where are you going?" I asked, curious as to what he was going to ask me to decide on. "Weren't you going to ask me something?"

"Right, listen, Ms. Darrow, there's something that I need to take care of," Mr. Amos said, heading for the door. He turned back to tell me something else. "But when you're ready, I'd like to talk to you about something very important. But only when you're ready."

"And I need to deliver these letters," Uncle Jacob said. He headed out after Mr. Amos had left, but only after parting some more words with us. "If you need me, I'll be in the city. I'll see you guys in a couple of hours."

Later than night, after dinner with Uncle Jacob and Aunt Erin's family and Uncle Darrien and Aunt Arabella's family, I lay in bed, thinking about all the different things that had happened today. It was hard to sleep, with all the news. Mr. Amos wanting me to think about some offer, Dad's recorded scrolls... Wait. I hadn't even mentioned it to anyone, or even looked to see what was inside. Why should be laying in bed doing nothing when I can be learning from Dad? I slid out of bed, and tip-toed my way over to where I left the satchel-bag. I took out the scroll that had a medallion with the Roman numeral for one. I took it back to bed and turned on my lamp to a low setting. Opening the scroll, I saw only a black circle. There was an ink drawing of a horizontal arrow - a play button. I ran my finger over it and soon the black circle began to produce images.

The image started out fuzzy, like a TV not working right, but then I saw glimpses of someone's face. I could barely tell who it was, but I saw dark-brown hair, hazel eyes, and a face marred by a scar that ran across his left side, or my right.

"Dad?" I asked myself. The image fought its way for clarity, but when it did, I could see Dad, or at least a much younger Dad, with normal eyes, normal skin, and dark-brown hair. "Dad, can you hear me?"

I was excited to see his face again. To see life in him. But something in the back of my mind wasn't getting excited. I began to realize that this was a recording, and not Dad actually talking to me. Still, it was nice to see him again.

**Is this thing on? Testing... 1... 2... 3... Right, if you're watching this, then that means I'm no longer around. For all its worth, I'm sorry. This wasn't how I planned on having things go, but at this point, there's not a whole lot I can do.**

I sighed. There really was no way he was coming back. Instead, all he left me were some stupid home videos. Still, I wasn't just going to let this go to waste.

**But, if you're watching this, then it also means that you're my wonderful son or daughter.**

What? Was this supposed to be some kind cruel joke that he had been waiting his whole life to tell me? Was someone really messing with me like that? I was kind of upset, but I continued to watch and listen.

**Oh, that's right. I'm, what, 18 years old now? So, if you're a boy, then you're probably named Jacob, after your uncle. That's a long story.**

Oh. That calmed down a bit. Still, I wasn't sure what to expect from Dad's younger self. He was only seven years older than me then. How much different could he have been?

**If you're a girl, then... I don't know what your name would be... Katrina sounds nice though... Yeah, Katrina.**

I smiled. It was the first time since he died since I had smiled. Even though he didn't know I would have existed, he had plans for me. That made me feel special. Thanks, Dad.

**I don't have a lot of time for this first message. Your, Mother, er, Mom, however you want to call her... she is your Mom, right? Anyway, she's looking for a house right now, so I only have enough time to get you caught up on the basics. It all started in with a woman named Jane Darrow...**

I listened to him for what seemed over an hour. It was interesting, his life on the run. It sounded scarier than when he told me in person. The war he fought also sounded a lot scarier coming from the recording than him in person. I could never imagine having to fight a war. I had only spent a year in the Legion!

**... and that ends the first part of this recording. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. The next recording should play right about no- Hey there, sweet child of mine.**

Hi, Dad. It felt like I was talking to him again. It made me feel like he never left.

**So... are you a girl... or a boy?**

I'm a girl, Dad. You know that. Well, not really. But you knew that.

**Ah, it doesn't matter. If you're my kid, it doesn't matter. But now that you've learned about my life before and during the war, its time we do some philosophical lessons.**

Great. More brain stuff. The Legion had taught me different tactics, which kind of confused me sometimes. There was even an introduction class to politics. I hated that.

**For me, I believe that someone's word is a reflection on how well they can keep a promise. Remember, even the smallest of mice can threaten, but it takes an honest person to live up to their word. This was something I had a bit of a problem with right after the war ended. It all happened in the wonderful city of New Rome...**


	3. Chapter 2: The Measure of Man's Word

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is told from the third-person POV of Lucius Darrow, its word count being 16,756. I do not apologize for the length!

**Chapter II: The Measure of a Man's Word**

**Fireworks dotted the sky, as the gleeful dusk set in**. For New Rome, and the rest of the demigod world had accomplished what seemed an impossible task - victory over Earth herself. The celebrations had started as soon as the troops returned home. A young Lucius Darrow was amongst those who made it back with their lives after the final battle. Every member of the Legion, from the lowliest [i]_probatio_[/i] the Centurions themselves, were all awarded a service medal. Some got more than others, for the sacrifices they made, but every soldier could walk around New Rome with pride and a medal or two on his chest. But before the celebrations were made, the troops had to come home first.

A tired Lucius Darrow was marching within his Cohort, his Centurions at the lead. They were less than a mile away from Camp Jupiter and New Rome. After weeks of fighting, they could return home. His life could finally begin. It was still morning, but the hill they fought to march up made it seem like they were still marching to battle. Some chatter had broke out amongst the ranks as they progressed.

"I hear there's going to parties," a Legionnaire said to another. He made it sound like they never went to a party. To be honest, neither had Lucius, but he wasn't the partying type. He was willing to make an exception if Carolina were there, however. "... and Venus girls galore!"

For a second, the son of Mars thought one of his Greek half-brothers had snuck into the Second Cohort, with all this talk about Venus girls. The thought of him brought the Greeks to his attention. How were they doing? Did they run into any trouble on their way home to Camp Half-blood? Like the Legion, they too had suffered many casualties in their last stand effort against Terra. He would need to take some time to contact some of his friends on the East side once he had the chance.

Finally getting to the top of the hill, they came to a stop. His Centurion, Marcus North, who was, coincidentally, his half-brother, gave the order to stand at ease. The troops relaxed where they stood. New Rome stood off in the distance like a well-earned reward. Lucius noticed Marcus come up to face the Cohort.

"Listen up, troops," the Centurion barked. He paced back and forth as he talked. His officer's armor had been badly damaged during the battle, but his was still kicking, even with the bit of blood going down the side of his face. "Look at that city over there. That is New Rome, the jewel of our legacy that you had fought so hard to protect! Look to the soldier to your left, and the one to your right. These are your heroes of New Rome. You are the heroes of New Rome! Now, let us march into _our_ city as true victors! For the gods of Olympus! For the _Fulminata!_ For Rome!"

Everyone in the Second Cohort felt their weary spirits lifted by the Centurion's energy. Even the 18 year old Lucius felt revived by his half-brother's zeal. They had just won a war! Why should they have their spirits down? Lucius looked over his left shoulder and saw a tall, blond haired daughter of Minerva. Next to her, he saw a Hispanic guy around his age. Other than Marcus, these two Legionnaires were some of the few friends he had in the Second Cohort. Sure, he had the usual sparring partner, but these were some of the few who could fall back to when times were tough. Of course, he had friends in other Cohorts, but a Roman soldier was supposed to treat his Cohort like his family.

"Hey, Abs," Lucius said in a hushed tone, as the Cohort prepared to march home. The daughter of Minerva grew an annoyed look on her face before glancing over at the son of Mars.

"What?" she hissed. Ever since they had been formally acquainted, Legionnaires Abbey Gordon and Lucius Darrow had been exercising a friendly rivalry for what seemed over a year. She was a daughter of Minerva, and he was a son of Mars. The two were always at each other.

"So I guess Mars is the better war deity?" he mused. One of the elements of their rivalry revolved around which god was better. And since they had been at war, it usually been about battle and other war topics.

"No, Minerva outsmarts Mars in every war," she bit back. Lucius had been preparing a counter that even the daughter of the wisdom goddess could not shrug off. "Don't think that he has any chance."

"Oh, that's right, because we prayed to Minerva before the last battle, right?" the son of Mars asked sarcastically. Abbey's face flushed red with frustration. She may have been tired like everyone else, but even she could still get angry from taking a sting to her godly parent's pride.

"¡Quemaste!" Legionnaire Nero taunted. Like one of Lucius' Greek friends, Nero used to work for the other side. Unfortunately that side was Terra and the Giants, even when Lucius was in the Legion. But since it was not new for him to take on friends of that caliber, the two had gotten along fairly well. Unfortunately, Abbey did not take kindly to being reminded that she was outsmarted, so she hit the son of Dyscordia.

"Shut it, Alvarez!" she hissed at him. He recoiled from her swatting.

"What, it was a good burn!" he pleaded in his defense.

The closer the Legion got to the city, the louder they could hearing some kind of noise. At first it sounded like the usual bustle of the civilians, but it began to sound like cheering. In the next couple of minutes, they had turned onto the _Via Praetoria_. The sounds of hundreds cheering and shouting exploded into the Legionnaire's faces. Flowers were being tossed at them. Confetti was dropping from some of the higher-altitude apartments. The last time Lucius had gone through this kind of crowd was when he was going to his own execution. Luckily, Mars had intervened, and he was able to live to the tell the tale another day.

The Legion marched through New Rome, which was usually a taboo, but considering this was a formal Roman triumph, exceptions were made. Still, they had make sure as to not incite while inside the city. But in the meantime, they would take on the people's cheers. They had more than earned them. But it made Lucius think about what he had fought for. It wasn't just to defeat Terra because she disliked demigods. He was saving the lives of the same people who were now praising their victorious return.

They marched until they came to the plaza at the steps of the Senate House. Historically, the Legion had assembled there, but only for special occasions. The last time the Legion had gathered was their was right before they left for the final battle. It was a war call, a prayer to the gods, to Mars mostly, but for the hope that they would return home, and not in rout. Thankfully, they had won, but the Legion had to be recognized for its efforts, or so the rumor had been told.

People gathered around an invisible perimeter around the Legion. The soldiers stood in rank, with Centurions up in front of their Cohorts. The Praetors went on ahead while everyone stood at attention. They climbed a series of steps, before reaching a median point between the Legion and the Senate House. Praetor Reyna stepped forward. Lucius noticed his half-brother, Marcus, curve the side of his lip. The two had gone to some lengths when they both competed for her attention. In the end, Marcus seemed to be winning, but only because Lucius had reevaluated his priorities. There was someone else.

"An army stands within the boundaries of New Rome," the daughter of Bellona declared with an eerie sense of betrayal. Like a true Roman, she kept to the rules, from what Lucius had seen. She was willing to see through his own execution, just as much as she was willing to see New Rome saved. As long as she was the people's servant, her conviction was undeterred. There were complications, but she dealt with them. Lucius always admired her for that. "A _triumphant_ army stands within New Rome. Those of you who stand here today truly are heroes. Your sacrifices, as well as the sacrifices of the heroes that could not stand with you here today, shall be forever commemorated. As our ancestors had honored soldiers who had defended its citizens, so will we honor the soldiers that stand before me that have defended the citizens of our glorious city. I present to you, Centurion and _Probatio_ alike, the Olive Crown."

Civilians from all corners began to disperse into the ranks, pinning a medal on each of their chests. A young woman with a beautiful face came up to Marcus and pinned the Olive Crown on his chest. The young Centurion's head to turn to follow her as she walked to award the next soldier. Lucius held back his laughter. It took a lot to catch the officer's attention and that girl did little.

Lucius peered down at his breastplate. The medal depicted a cornucopia, encircled by a olive wreath. Its silver color contrasted his damaged armor. Everyone's armor was damaged from the battle, but the dark, damaged figures were adorned by a new and bright medal. Reyna held out her arms, presenting the Legion to its city. Cheer exploded throughout the ranks, even Lucius joined in on the cheering and celebrations with Abbey and Nero. The war was over! Peace was theirs! But the cheers lasted for only moment before the Praetor called for the Legion's attention once more. The Centurions were quick to change face and put their Cohorts back in line.

As much as they wanted to celebrate right then and there, the army needed a break, some rest and relaxation. Praetor Reyna ordered the troops back to the barracks where they would muster for just one last duty - a moment of silence. Shrouds were burned, even though the bodies had burned on site of the battlefield. It was only proper that they have their shrouds burned on the grounds of what they called home and not somewhere else. Lucius had lost a lot of friends during the battle alone. He had prayed that this would be the last time he would have to burn someone's shroud like that.

After he had been put on leave for the week, Lucius did as most other soldiers did - he suited up for the celebrations. The word was that a huge party was to be thrown in the Legion's honor. The son of Mars decided he would not miss out on an opportunity like this. Plus, Carolina would be there, since Jack, Abbey's boyfriend, was going to be there. The "shark" of the Third Cohort and Lucius had been close for many years. They were beyond friends.

Lucius walked out of the barracks in his newly-polished armor. He had taken the liberty of displaying all of his medals. There were three, including the Olive Crown he had received earlier that afternoon. Falling down from his back was a purple sash, which he and Marcus had received for protecting the life of Praetor Reyna during the previous year's pre-election season campaign. The son of Mars found a familiar face waiting around outside. Like Lucius, he was also adorned in his own polished armor.

"Hola, Darrow," Nero greeted, tossing a golden apple in his right hand. The son of Mars walked over to him and bumped fists with his fellow Legionnaire. The son of Discordia had been waiting for the others to show up, as Lucius was the second to show up. The Cohorts always stuck together. Before Lucius could get a word in, two people came out bickering.

"I'm telling you, Abbey, Copperfield is good and all, but then there's me," Marcus argued as he emerged from the barracks. He also wore his armor, which had a purple sash flowing down from the back, but he had more medals than Lucius and Nero combined. The only other person who had amassed such a collection was Carolina Westfield, Lucius' unofficial girlfriend. "I mean, seriously, I _am_ the Roman Lion. Which reminds me, I'll have your support in the upcoming elections, right?"

"Maybe, I don't know, Marcus," Abbey said, walking out in a chiton, covered by a gray himation. She too had medals on her cloak. Her exposed forearms revealed her identity as a Legionnaire. Aside from the few scars, the gang looked ready fro any formal event. "What if I think your opposition is the better candidate?"

"Jack is great and all, but he's not what New Rome needs," Marcus said in his defense. "Even Legionnaire Ward still has a long way to go before he's ready to be a Centurion. That leaves me to be the only real candidate."

"And what if I were to go in for the running?" Lucius asked, throwing himself into the competition. Nero kissed his golden apple, chuckling as the two brothers sized each other up. Abbey sighed and went over to the nearest sun dial. "I'm sure the Hero of New Rome would be a decent candidate for Praetor."

"Brother, if it came to that, we'd might as well hold office simultaneously," Marcus joked, then turned to his tone serious. "But know this, Lucius, the lion has been stalking his role for leader for a very long time. I will be Praetor."

"Guys, we're gonna be late," Abbey interrupted. Lucius and Marcus shot a look at each other, then back at Nero. It was his apple that sparked the ugly side of rivalry, even between two brothers. As much as Lucius wanted recognition, he did not want to lose a brother in his quest. The same happened when it came between the two sons of Mars and Reyna. But Lucius later found that she was not the one. "Lets hurry up. I don't want the Second Cohort to be the the last ones there."

"Right, we should hurry along," Marcus said after shaking his head. Even the great Roman Lion was not immune to the powers of Discordia. "Alvarez, put that thing away. There's going to be a lot of important people there and I don't need my reputation ruined before the campaigning starts."

"Aw, fine," Nero moaned as he ran back to put his golden apple away.

The four strolled through the streets of New Rome. Other groups had taken to some partying themselves, carrying glasses in their hands full of various drinks. Some wore masks, while others had Roman candles. It was like New Year's Eve in Times Square. There was no tomorrow for the people, tonight was forever.

"I could do so much damage here," Nero muttered to himself deviously. Lucius raised an eyebrow as they turned down the corner of Legionnaire Way and Caesar Avenue. The son of Mars was convinced he would by a house somewhere around here. It was one of the oldest spots in the city, and was only a couple of blocks away from the [i]_Via Praetoria_[/i], the main road that led into the city. The party was to be held at a large manor in the same area, but more towards the more-privileged area of the Old Rome District. "Where are we headed anyway?"

"The del Sol Estate," Abbey answered quickly. Being a daughter of the wisdom goddess, she was always the first to answer any general knowledge question, which contributed to her rivalry with Lucius. But the son of Mars was not focused on that rivalry. He was focused on the fact that he was going to the to the estate of the man he was accused of murdering, which meant he was going to face someone he was dreading to meet again.

_Clancy Ward._

"I thought del Sol had a mansion in San Jose," Marcus mused, not noticing the expression of shock in Lucius' face. The Legionnaire had been accused of murdering Martin del Sol, Clancy Ward's mentor and benefactor. The trial following the murder of the former augur, as rigged as it was, somehow proved that Lucius was guilty of murdering the man he had never met. His sentence was death by execution, but with an intervention of Mars, his godly father, Lucius ended up having to face the son of Apollo in duel to the death. Even if the son of Mars had spared him in his weakest moment, neither of them walked out of that engagement without secrets being exposed. Fortunately, Clancy's secret, his lycanthropy, was cured by forced exposure from the silver metal components in Lucius' gladius, _Vicis_. Sadly, Lucius could never be cured of what he harbored. "I didn't realize how wealthy the old augur and Centurion was. Lucius, you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay, just a little tired from all the fighting," Lucius answered quickly, trying to play off his dread. Nero raised an eyebrow, while Abbey and Marcus exchanged looks. Beads of sweat began forming at the top of his head. He really did not want to have to go through with another situation with him again. He was a war veteran, and a tired one at that. All he wanted to do was to just go to a nice party and celebrate the war's end. "No, I'm really tired, but I think I can make it to the party. Yeah, I'll be okay."

"Er, okay," Marcus muttered. He continued off instead of wasting any more time. Lucius and others ran to catch up. A Cohort always stuck together.

They came to the gateway of one of the largest estates in all of New Rome, but the biggest in the Old Rome District. The del Sol family was one of the oldest family legacies in all of New Rome, alongside the Westfield family and Octavian's family line. Lucius felt insignificant when he thought of the long and old family lines that ran through the Legion. His father-figure, William Amos, from the Amos did not even have a family line that went over three generations. That was why he needed to constantly prove himself to everyone. He had no history in the Legion, so had to make his own legacy. As an adopted member of the Amos family, he got some recognition, but nowhere near as the del Sol legacy. The family's accumulated wealth over the generations had been able to provide its heirs with anything they desired. Legionnaire Ward used this asset as a tool in his crusade against Octavian, whom he was destined to overthrow.

In any case, the augur had been a sponsor for Lucius in the gladiator sport. The son of Mars had been split over going against one of the few people who had supported him or to siding with the same person who was convinced that Lucius was responsible for Martin's death. That was why he had decided to withdraw from that conflict and to turn his attention to something much deeper than any one individual.

_The Order_.

The Order was a secret society that went back to the founding of New Rome itself. They knew everything about anyone, being able to make a political assassination look like nothing more than a street mugging-turned-murder. They were responsible for del Sol's death, even after Lucius had gone to investigate them. He and Marcus were able to defeat their recently-appointed leader in combat, forcing them to go back to the shadows. Somehow, Octavian was able to access their resources, utilizing them as a secret police to enforce his motives. The death of Martin del Sol was just one of many such cases of the lengths the augur had gone to. But they were gone, leaving only Clancy's hated for Lucius. The son of Apollo would never be able to forgive him, but at least he was not at his throat the whole time.

"Big place," Nero said in awe. The son of Discordia looked up at the height of colossal mansion. Lights blared out from all the windows, and the gang could see people going back and forth. Most were partying, enjoying their time off from service, while most were just happy to see the end of the war. The front doors, made of grand oak, with various scenes of heroes, gods, and monsters on the fronts, were wide open. Lucius felt like he was back in New Orleans, right before the [i]_marti gras_[/i] started, with dusk at its prime and the illuminations of festivities growing. He felt some kind of peace from the atmosphere.

"Is that your professional opinion, Alvarez?" Abbey asked, raising an eyebrow at Nero's shallow statement.

"This isn't an estate," Marcus interrupted, elaborating on Nero's statement. "Its a villa."

"There must be hundreds of rooms there," Nero continued, sticking his hands in his pockets. "There can't be any way that someone could make so much money like this."

"This place makes the Amos estate look like a tool shed," Abbey smirked, looking back at Lucius and sticking her tongue at him. "And he's the only living respectable Praetor from the last century."

"The Amos place is big," the son of Discorida agreed, strolling around just a couple of paces in the front entrance garden. "But this is a whole other scale. I mean, look at just the entrance way. I couldn't even afford half of this garden with ten years of full-service pay! How could someone be able to afford all of this?" "The del Sol family goes back further than I had initially thought," Marcus stated, rubbing his chin. "No wonder they've been able to stay in this part of town for so long."

"They probably own most of this district and not just [i]_la hacienda_[/i]," Nero spoke, reverted back to his native Spanish tongue. "It must be hard maintaing all of the finances from this district."

"Or maybe they don't own as much as we thought," Abbey said with an accusatory tone. "Maybe someone else payed for this place."

"Why not?" Marcus asked, glancing over at the daughter of Minerva. "They're supposed to be one of the first families in New Rome, alongside the Westfields and Octavian's family line, but still."

"Are we gonna head in or what?" Lucius asked a little impatiently. He had to agree that the estate was huge, he even dreaded having to see Clancy again, but that did not mean he wanted to wait outside while party was being thrown in their honor. "I don't know about you guys, but I could really use a party like this."

As soon as the others walked in through the doorway, Lucius thought he heard someone trying to catch his attention. He peered over to his right and saw a kid in a dark corner of the gardens. The son of Mars raised an eyebrow than went over to investigate. Carefully, Lucius inched his way through darkness as he left the safety of the party lights. The night was already setting in. But he kept on his path, convinced that he saw a kid running around.

Turning around a corner of a gazebo, Lucius found a small child standing in the corner. The kid's back was facing him, so he could not see the kid's face.

"Are you lost?" Lucius asked, careful not to approach the kid in a threatening way. His head began thumping a little. He must have hit his head putting his armor or something. But the pain caused him to rub his head. "What's your name?"

"How can I wait unknowing?" the kid asked in a rhetorical tone. The pitch of the voice sounded like a little girl, like someone he should know. Her name was on the tip of his tongue, but he was not able to say the name.

"Waiting for what?" Lucius asked, taking a step to approach. He crept up a little closer, so he could try to see who this little girl was. "What are you waiting for?"

"Lucius, is that you?" someone from behind the son of Mars asked. He turned to see who it was and found a familiar face. The man's brown skin, blue eyes, and black hair with signs of gray

"Amos!" Lucius exclaimed in joy. He ran over to greet the former Praetor who had recommended his position in the Second Cohort. If it were not for William Amos, Lucius would be digging out gods know what in the stables in the Fifth Cohort. He hugged his old friend. "What are you doing here?"

"You know I live in this part of town," Amos said, giving Lucius a light punch to his shoulder. Even though William may have been old enough to be his older brother, the son of Mars still treated him like his unofficial father. He had done more than what his godly father could ever hope to do. "And I was friends with Martin, you know that. Its only natural that I be invited to any del Sol event. I should be asking what you are doing here."

"Oh, you know, the usual," Lucius shrugged sarcastically. "You know, the Legion saving New Rome and all, just a party being thrown in our honor, nothing out of the ordinary." "I see," Amos said, grinning a little and rubbing his chin. "I guess I have to congratulate you on that. So, on behalf of my wife and son-"

"Wait, you have a kid now?" Lucius asked, shocked by the news of Amos being a father. It kind of threw the idea of Lucius being adopted into the Amos family, but that did not mean he was happy for him. "You never told me that! Congratulations! What's his name?"

"Actually, my wife, Mira, and I have been debating that," Amos said, crossing his arms. "You remember her, right? Right, well, she's still pregnant with our son, so naming him hasn't been a priority at the moment. Maybe you would have some suggestions? How about Blake?"

"Blake sounds a little pompous, if you ask me," Lucius replied, giving a disgusted expression. For some reason that name did not stick well with him. "What about something like Tristan or Howard?"

"Howard sounds pretty good," Amos said, nodding his head. "I'll have to bring that up with Mira. But I think I've held you up for long enough. You should go inside and enjoy the party."

"Thanks, I will," Lucius said, before heading over to doorway. He felt Amos' hand on his shoulder, so he turned to face him.

"Hey, Lucius, you know if you need anything you can talk to me, right?" he asked, his blue eyes showing signs of concern. "You know where you can find me. Now go and enjoy yourself, alright?"

Amos soon left, leaving Lucius to go in through the front door. When he saw what was before him, he was shocked. The first room he walked into was a great hall, big enough for to fit a collegiate swimming pool, which was fitting, considering he could see the reflection of water coming from one of the other rooms. There were over a dozen people at minimum in each room, with everyone talking, dancing, eating, and just having a good time. Lucius was already lost by just stepping into the second room, with was just as big as the last and had just as many people. Expensive decorations covered the walls, from antique paintings to old statues. There was even a stuffed pegasus, poised like it was about to take off into flight, in one of the halls.

But soon Lucius was to be found by someone he would not have expected to find. He was boy at his height, with blondish hair and a smug expression that made him seem to fit right in, except for the orange t-shirt that he wore.

"Hey there, Lucius," Gary Hound, a Greek said to the son of Mars as he began to fiddle with a pair of sunglasses. "Nice to see you stop by."

"Gary, what in Tartarus are you doing here?" Lucius asked, still sweating a bit from his episode outside just a moment ago. "I thought this was a Roman party."

"It is, but some of us lowly Greeks got invited," the son of Apollo explained. Lucius' ears perked up when Gary mentioned other Greeks. "Yeah, Kori, Erin, Dutch, and a couple of others, I think. Clancy invited us, since we're friends and all. You should check out the place, its pretty nice, even if the del Sol legacy has died off."

"You know that I didn't do it, Gary," Lucius said, crossing his arms. The son of Mars always got upset when people still believed he had murdered Martin del Sol. According to the god of war, his victory over his challenger meant that he was cleared of accusations. Apparently, Gary never got the memo.

"Yeah, I know, I just like giving you a hard time about it," Gary said, throwing an arm in a joking gesture. "But you should go on ahead, the party's not gonna go on forever."

"Right, I'll see you around," Lucius parted, heading off into the next room.

Before entering the next room, the sounds of deep basses echoed throughout the door frames and the adjacent walls and floors. The partying must have been really intense of Lucius could hear the sounds of music before he was even close to the door. But he continued to open them anyway.

The more and more Lucius progressed into the del Sol mansion, the more and more he was amazed by its size and wealth. He stumbled into a vast open room with hundreds of people dancing at various dance pads, or talking away or enjoying a feast fit for the gods at dozens of tables and booths. The whole Legion could have fit in the room he was standing in, which made the son of Mars feel a little lost. He had got left behind by accident, and was paying for it. But his disparity lasted for only a moment as soon as someone wrapped their arms around him.

"Lucius!" said the voice of a young woman, who's dark, black hair and sea-green eyes always brought him comfort. "What took you so long?"

"Carolina," the son of Mars said, returning the hug. The two gave each other a quick kiss and both walked back to a table, arms around each other. He was so happy to see her, especially since they last talked on the night before the last battle. For a while, he had feared for the worst, but luckily she pulled out of it okay. For that, he was joyed. "How's the party going?"

"Great, but I think you should get something to eat first, you look really pale," she suggested, leading him to a seat. She always had a nurturing instinct, even when they were just little kids. Lucius could only like her for that even more. The two were as close as being joined to the hip when they were just kids. "Here, sit down."

The daughter of Neptune seated him at a table with other familiar faces - Jack Copperfield, from the Third Cohort, Darrien Peake, from the Fourth, his sister, Erin, Jacob Epperson, Lucius' best friend, and Kori Maka, his Greek half-sister. Of course, the three that Lucius came with were also at the table, Marcus sitting at the head, and Carolina taking the other. Lucius sat at her right, with the son of Hermes sitting at his right.

"Glad to see the Bull of the West is still kicking," Jacob joked, giving him a slap on the arm. He, along with everyone else, except Lucius, looked like a mess, even after cleaning up for tonight's occasion. Lucius may have been visibly unscarred, but that did not mean he did not have his own fair share. "What took you so long?"

"Oh, it was nothing, just ran into a couple of old friends," Lucius explained, feeling a hand slipping in between the fingers of his left hand. He glanced over and saw Carolina grinning, but swayed her attention away from him, even she was holding his hand. "So, you guys got invited."

"Yeah, it was kind of nice of Clancy to do that," Erin said, leaning on Jacob a little. The son of Hermes kept a content face going for a little while. Eventually, he caved and the two Greeks laughed and giggled. "Stop it, Jacob! I mean, he didn't have to, especially after we just got back to Camp Half-blood."

"Is everyone from camp here?" Lucius asked, noticing Marcus' eyes were on him. The Roman Lion kept a studious expression, with his face resting atop his clasped hands. " 'Cause there's a lot of people here that I don't recognize."

"No, not everyone," Jacob replied, giving a slow poke to Erin's side. The daughter of Poseidon returned the gesture and soon the two were going back and forth. The two erupted into a frenzy, with several Roman bystanders walking by with various expressions.

In a couple of minutes of gossip, and other small talk, the servers began bustling to their table. Lucius had a simple dish of bloody-rare steak and Caesar salad. He finished it before most, but Carolina had him beat. She always was the faster eater.

"I heard Coll is getting married," Darrien muttered, while chewing on some mashed potatoes. Jack nodded when he heard the name being mentioned. "To some Minerva girl, Andrea Weaver. I think thats what her name was."

"Yeah, they're expecting," Jack said a little too bluntly. Everyone's mouth gaped open. One of the most isolationist of Romans was going to get married! Lucius' mind was blown. He had vague ideas of a future with Carolina, but nothing that they actually talked about.

"So what about you guys?" Darrien asked the couple. Carolina blushed a little, glancing over at the son of Mars. Lucius was a little dumbfounded. He had really no idea what they were going to do. "Oh, I see. What about you, sis?"

"We talked about it, Jacob and I," Erin said, wrapping her arm around the son of Hermes'. "And we want to start up a halfway home for lost demigods."

"You guys do know that the Titan War was started because of demigods who were abandoned," Jacob smirked. The son of Hermes was a poster child for his own cause. He had been recruited into the Titan cause solely because he was abandoned as a young kid by his godly parent. "So if there aren't any more demigods without a home, then we prevent another war with them."

"That's really good," Darrien nodded. Even Jack nodded. Lucius and Carolina could not help but smile in happiness for them. "I wish you two the best of luck. I hope I'll be able to stop by."

"We would love that, Darrien," Erin said, before kissing Jacob on the cheek. The son of Hermes made a small laugh, his face turning as red as a tomato. "Lucius, Carol, maybe you two would like to visit sometime?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Lucius stammered, still shocked by all the news he was getting. The son of Mars straightened himself up and gave Jacob a look. [i]_We need to talk._[/i] The son of Hermes gave a small nod, complying. "I need to excuse myself for a moment."

Lucius got up and leaned in to kiss Carolina. He then headed off to one of the bars on the other side of the room. Taking one of the seats, he waited for Jacob to show up. As soon as the son of Hermes slid in the adjacent chair, the two began to converse with one another.

"What's up?" Jacob asked, his blue eyes peering around. He spun his chair a little bit before coming to attention.

"Look, I want to help out," the son of Mars said bluntly. "I want to help pay for your guys' costs."

"You don't have to do that, Lucius," Jacob said, putting his hands up in defense. "Its nice, buy you really don't have to."

"Look, this deal isn't one-sided," Lucius said. He thought for awhile when Jacob and Erin talked about plans for their future together. It made him think about what he was going to do with Carolina. He really liked her, and he was sure by the gods that she really liked him. There was no one else like her. They knew almost everything about each other. It only made sense that Lucius go through with what he was about to say. "Its a fair deal because I'll pay for your guy's project, if you'll be my best man."

"Your best man?" Jacob asked, a little confused for a second. His face then shifted to complete surprise and joy. "Your best man! You and Carolina? Yeah! You didn't even have to ask."

"Thanks, man," Lucius said as he hugged his best friend, and now, his best man. "I mean it, thank you, a lot."

"No problem," the son of Hermes replied. "Did you already propose to her?"

"Er, no, I haven't," Lucius uttered, shaking his head. "I don't even have a ring yet."

"That's okay," Jacob said, before getting out of his stool. "Come on, we should get back before they think we're plotting something."

"Good idea," Lucius said, walking back to his seat.

When the two demigods got back to the table, questions were asked, but they both casually took their seats, as if nothing really happened.

"So, what were you two guys talking about?" Erin asked as soon as the son of Hermes got back to his seat. Carolina leaned into Lucius in a similar fashion. Perhaps it was a common thing for the daughters of the sea god to do. "You two look like you're up to something."

"Its nothing, really," Jacob said, a smile creeping up on his expression. Carolina, still smiling, raised an eyebrow at Lucius. Then the son of Hermes began whispering something into Erin's ear. "... but that should suffice your curiosity for now."

"What, are you serious?" Erin asked, in a heightened tone of voice. She was about to burst into tears, but not for the reason Lucius was expecting. "You'll help pay for the place? Lucius, thank you, so much. Really, I don't have the words to say how thankful I am."

"I guess I won't have to steal to pay for it," the son of Hermes chimed in. Everyone at the table burst into laughter, even Jack. "But seriously, thanks. We really appreciate it."

The music soon started getting louder and some of the demigods at the table starting taking hints. The first to go were Jack and Abbey, who were becoming quite the couple. Next up was Erin and Jacob, who laughed and giggled as they got up. Darrien and Kori kept a friendly tone, and were soon dancing as friends. That left Nero, who was soon resting his arms on two very beautiful demigoddesses.

"What can I say?" the son of Discordia jested. "¡_Me gustan!_"

The three remaining demigods sat awkwardly at the table. Marcus' eyes darted around, like he was about to club someone to death, but then his gaze stopped at a single girl, in a purple chiton, and gladiator sandals. Her dark hair and darker eyes met Lucius', then darted over to the other son of Mars. Marcus took a quick glance at his half-brother, nodded, then got up from his seat. Despite the past, Lucius had hoped the best for the two of them, even if it came to the cost of another Roman's heart. He had thought that there was yet another person involved in that vast web of love and loss. Lucius was just glad to be out of it.

"Why don't we go for some dancing?" Carolina prompted. Lucius never really was the dancing type, but that did not mean he was going to turn down her offer. "Don't worry, you won't step on anyone's toes _this_ time."

"That was first grade," Lucius said in an angered, but teasing tone. He got up with her, his hand still clasped in hers, then proceeded to the dance floor. Like her natural element, the daughter of Neptune soon slipped and slivered her way into the music's ebb and flow. The music's dark beats were echoed by her somber movements. Lucius felt small when he tried to dance with her, but it was a comforting feeling, like she was always there, keeping in the groove.

Their dancing grew more intimate, their distance growing closer. Lucius soon found his hands on her hips, moving with her rhythm. He had never felt that kind of connection with her before. The magnitude of thoughts racing through his head were dulled down by [i]_their_[/i] moment. But their glee was soon interrupted by a sudden halt in the music.

"Sorry about that, folks," the DJ began to pardon. It was the voice of someone he had just bumped into. "This is the Hound! Guys, grab a lady, 'cause its time for some slow jams."

"I guess that means we should slow down," Lucius tried to say over the sound of the music. The daughter of Neptune could not hear him, but took cue from the change in atmosphere. She took his hand, and placed his free hand on her hip. Lucius was more comfortable with this kind of dancing, or at least more familiar with it. The noise between dancers started dying down as Gary started playing Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time."

_After my picture fades and darkness has_

_Turned to gray_

_Watching through windows - you're wondering_

_If I'm okay_

"Carolina, I've been thinking about something," Lucius said as they waltzed through Lauper's slow saddened tones. They swiveled to his right, then stepped back over to the left. She took her head off of his shoulder, which had been resting there as they danced.

"What is it?" she asked, peering into his eyes were her sea-green irises. The color glistened as the lights shifted to and fro. Lucius had always thought of Carolina as an okay looking girl, a mediocre looking girl as young kids, but when he saw her in this kind of state, she was the most gorgeous person in the room. It may have been just him who perceived her like this, but he was glad if he was the only one.

_Secrets stolen from deep inside_

"We've won this war, but we still have the rest of our lives to live out," Lucius stated. He knew he had few years as a demigod, but even less with his [i]_condition_[/i]. Few people knew about it. Not even Carolina, the person Lucius wanted to spend the rest of his life with, knew about it. But that was why he wanted to talk with her. "I want to spend out the rest of my days here in the city. But I need to tell you something about me."

"What, are you proposing to me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know how I'll respond if you propose, Knucklehead."

_The drum beats out of time_

"Don't get too full of yourself, Freckles," Lucius remarked, bringing her a little closer. "[i]_I'm dying_[/i]. I don't know how long I have, but I want to live out my time the best I can. And I want to spend it with you."

"You jerk, you are proposing to me!" the daughter of Neptune retorted. She looked like she was in between smiling and punching him in the face. "I don't care if you're dying. Just be straight with me."

"I'm not proposing," Lucius muttered. He really had not planned on doing that today. "But I want you to consider this as us becoming... [i]_official_[/i]."

"_Official?_" she asked. "You want us to become official? I thought we were already there, Knucklehead."

"Well, great," Lucius muttered. "Look, I want to be with you. I really do. Its just... "

"Just what?"

_If you're lost you can look - and you will find me_

_Time after time_

"I want you to be the mother of my kids," Lucius said swiftly and compulsively. "I want to grow old with you."

"Wha-" she gaped, her expression lost. A tear fell down the side of her face. "You... "

"You and I are like... " Lucius tried to say. "I can't do it without you."

_If you fall I will catch you - I'll be waiting_

_Time after time_

"I want to," she said after a moment. "I don't want to do it without you, either, Knucklehead."

"So... that's a yes," Lucius half-stated, half-asked.

"Yes, its a yes, you idiot," she teased before lunging in for a kiss. Lucius was on Cloud Nine by now. His future, as short as it may be, was started to look really good. He did not want to stop. This moment made him promise himself that he was not going to throw his life away. He had someone counting on him now.

_Time after time_...

The two lovebirds took a break from dancing, after going through that emotional roller coaster. They sat down at their table and talked. They talked about a whole lot of things, particularly what they were going to do after they were done with their ten years of service.

"Actually, I was thinking about retiring," Carolina said, glancing at her overturned forearm. It was riddled with service bars. She easily had more than ten, which was the minimum requirement before exiting the Legion and earning a place to stay in New Rome. "I already have fourteen, and everyone's getting renewals next week. All the officers are also getting an extra stripe, for _excellence in leadership during a critical mission_, so I'll have 15. I think I've done more than earn my retirement."

"No fair, I only have... four by next week," Lucius said in a saddened tone. "And I still have another eight years to go."

"Well, maybe if you would have come and talk to me before you disappeared, you would have been a decorated Legionnaire by now," Carolina theorized. Lucius narrow his eyes for a second. She had her memory altered ever since she was kidnapped by the goddess Trivia, erasing all of her memories of being a demigod, and of him.

"Wait, you remember that?" the son of Mars quickly asked, curious as how she was able to do such a thing.

"I... I don't know," she answered. "It just... came to me."

"Well, is there anything else?" Lucius asked. "Do you remember anything else about your old life?"

She thought for a moment, even closing her eyes and concentrating. After that moment, she shook her head. Nothing new. But a small spark like this was something, and he was happy to see her memory coming back to her. The son of Mars could only guess how hard it must have been having to lead a Cohort without the years of memory of doing so once before. He was glad to have been just a regular Legionnaire during the war.

Lucius' eyes glanced over at Marcus who was talking with Reyna. It looked like a heated argument, with both of them lunging with loud voices and hand gestures. By the looks on their faces, it looked as if they had come to some disagreement. Then Reyna did something Lucius thought he would never see. From the side of the daughter of Bellona's face was single tear trailing down. As much as he wanted to go over and try to set things, he knew his boundaries, and he had priorities. Whatever had gone down between them was their problem, and Lucius jumping into it would not help at all.

"Looks like things are heating up between Marcus and Reyna," Lucius noted, nodded toward their direction. Carolina turned her head to peek for a moment. The daughter of Neptune and Lucius had a low point in their relationship when she suspected he had feelings for the Praetor. But like the son of Mars, the Centurion was able to put that in the past.

"Yeah, I remember when that used to be us," Carolina said almost sadly. Lucius nodded, frowning for a moment. He knew how much pain he had caused her during that incident, but luckily, he was able to turn it around for the better. "Thank the gods it worked out this way. Still, I feel bad for her. She's always expected to do the right thing, even when she can't. I guess that's why I never wanted to go past Centurion."

As much as Lucius wanted to point out Carolina's recovery, he held back his tongue. Maybe if he just let it come out, she would be able to recover her memories without the fear of being forced out. But he was glad to know that there was a chance to a future where she would be her self once more.

The others soon came back to the table, tired, panting, and sweating from all the dancing. Even Marcus soon came back to his seat, but kept an unfriendly stance as he walked back over to the table. While the others may not have known, Lucius did his best to not trouble or pressure his half-brother. He had gone through enough, that much he was sure of.

"Hey, guys, how about we raise our glass," Carolina said, bearing a grin as she raised her own goblet into the air. Lucius followed to suit to encourage similar behavior from the others. Sure enough, Jacob, Erin, Darrien, Kori, Jack, Abbey, Nero and his two lady-_friends_ held up the glasses to celebrate. Lucius looked to Marcus who, after some time, came to put aside his troubles for a moment. "To good fortune... for all of us."

"To a good future," Carolina said, her eyes shifting towards Lucius. Jacob and Erin raised their own glasses to that.

"To us, the victors," Lucius prompted. Everyone raised their glass in cheer. Then everyone took a swig and let the good times roll. But the soldier without war would soon find himself in his own war.

It had been a week since Lucius had received the tattoo for another year of service under the Legion. He counted all the lines at least dozen a times a day. Five. In just two years, he was able to earn five stripes. Lucius felt that he was on the right path for a bright, fortunate career for himself in the next couple of years. He had survived a war with the Giants, he was just under a quarter of the duration of his ten years, he had a girlfriend who was willing to spend the rest of her life with him, but most importantly, he had a future. Even with the short amount of time he might have had, he knew that if he lived every day to its fullest, then he would never have to regret not living his dream.

But even with his optimism, Lucius felt that he was about to live his life without leaving some kind of change on the world. He thought for a moment, inside his barrack, thinking on what he could do to be a good husband and father, even when he was not there anymore. After hours of mental debate, he came to a conclusion - he needed to send a message to the future. He figured out how he was going to do this, calling an old friend to assist him with his project.

An hour later, a faun walked into the barrack, with a satchel hanging from his side.

"Hey, I got what you wanted," Rogan said. "Now what do you need them for?"

The son of Mars gave very explicit instructions to the faun. But the most important instruction was that he would need to present this satchel to his firstborn child exactly on the day of his funeral pyre. It was for his or her eyes only.

"Right, I guess I'll be waiting... for that," Rogan said before exiting the barrack, leaving a very nerve-racked Lucius alone. He began to work on his project, pulling out the first scroll he found. It was a recording message scroll, a device a Greek demigod Leo Valdez had once used, but this time he was going to use it for more than just a simple message, he was going to speak to his future legacy.

Lucius rolled open the scroll, and noticed a black oval, with an image of black, shifting clouds. It was unused, giving its cloudy picture. He also noticed a red square at one of the corners - the record button. He thought of what he was going to say, then pressed it.

"Is this thing on?" Lucius asked. His eyes glanced at the red square, which blinked slowly. He felt like an idiot talking to a piece of magical paper. "Testing... 1... 2... 3... "

He looked at the blinking red square again. It must have been recording the whole time! What a fool he was! In any case, he had to carry on with the recording, lest his future go in vain.

"Right, if you're watching this, then it means I'm no longer around," Lucius said coldly. He had no idea how to initiate a conversation with someone who was not there... yet. Still, he had to be honest with them and with himself. This was meant to be viewed after his death. "For all its worth, I'm sorry. This wasn't how I planned on having things go, but at this point, there's not a whole lot I can do."

"But, if you're watching this, then it also means that you're my wonderful son or daughter," Lucius said, trying to change the mood of the recording. He had hoped that whoever ended up watching this would take it at face value. But he still was unfamiliar in talking in a future sense, especially when it was directed at no particular person. He was going to have to practice more often for this project. "Oh, that's right. I'm, what, 18 years old now? So, if you're a boy, then you're probably named Jacob, after your uncle. That's a long story."

He had promised Jacob Epperson that he would name his son after him, which had been his way for thanking him for taking Carolina back to her home after she had been rescued from the Underworld. At first, it was an exaggeration, but then Lucius realized the friendship he and the son of Hermes had, and by naming his son after him, it would show just how much that friendship went. Plus, the son of Mars never abandoned from a promise.

"If you're a girl, then... I don't know what your name would be... " Lucius continued, thinking for a moment. He had thought about different names that work and spoke the first one that came to mind. "Katrina sounds nice though... Yeah, Katrina."

"I don't have a lot of time for this first message," the son of Mars spoke into the recording device. "Your, Mother, er, Mom, however you want to call her... she is your Mom, right?"

As much as he wanted to marry Carolina, he was not sure if he would wake up the next day, the next week, and so. He was living on extended time, so he had to call it what it was, and not what he wanted it to be, as much as he wanted it to be.

"Anyway, she's looking for a house right now, so I only have enough time to get you caught up on the basics," Lucius said almost as a goodbye. He prepared himself to talk about his whole life, from his conception in Berlin, Germany, to his toddler days in Virginia, to the six years he spent on the run from a cyclops, to the war he had just fought to win. All of it had be laid down on the table, because he might have not been able to tell his son or daughter as they grew. He had to invest in the time he had now, so it would pay off in the future. "It all started off with a woman named Jane Darrow..."

Lucius found himself standing on Half-blood Hill with Carolina, Marcus North, and Clancy Ward. The three of them had been sent on a diplomatic mission to Camp Half-blood, as a means to establish some kind of peace charter with the Greeks. Even though there was [i]_de facto_[/i] peace between the two species of demigods, the need for [i]_de jure_[/i] peace between the East and the West motivated the Romans to send forth those who they deemed suited best for building relations with the Greeks. It had been some time since the son of Mars had last set foot in the calm grass of Camp Half-blood.

The last time he was there, he and 15 other Roman demigods were competing in a what was known as the Demigod Olympics, as a means to further develop good relations between the two camps. The competition was a series of one-on-one duels in the camp's arena. There were three events, all of which the son of Mars had qualified for. He had done well during that competition, but there was still room for improvement.

The four of them trudged down the hill, armor-clad in the standard Roman issue, with the Centurion and Legionnaire variants. The mission team was a bit mismatched, with it being Carolina's last mission before officially retiring, Marcus' last mission before running for Praetor, and Clancy being there. He and Lucius avoided making eye contact with one another, even avoiding speaking to one another. Their mutual silence between one another created an air of awkwardness for the two Centurions. As much as he hated creating awkward moments, Lucius was not ready to talk to the son of Apollo just yet.

The four Romans walked over to the largest house in sight - the Big House. The Legionnaire took lead, as he was the most experienced with the Greeks. He had spent a couple of months living amongst them, before finding his way to Camp Jupiter. They took him in when no one else would, he adopted their ways of life, their ideologies, and for that, he was recognized among the Greeks almost as kin.

"Come on, the Big House is over here," Lucius said, signaling for them to come over to the most normal building in the camp. A older man in a wheelchair was perched on the patio's wood slats. "Chiron! We need to speak with the cabin leaders."

"Lucius Darrow, what brings you and your friends to Camp Half-blood?" Chiron, the age-old teacher of a millennia of old heroes, including Heracles and others. That was one thing that Lucius liked about Camp Half-blood, he was living among a legend come to life. Sure, there were Lares in Camp Jupiter, but they were cryptic, often wanting to left alone in their eternity of madness. "You know the Romans are not allowed on Greek soil, young man. I pray that you came here under a banner of peace, son of the war god."

"Don't worry, Chiron," Lucius assured his old teacher. He pulled out an olive branch. Even if it was one of Minerva's symbols, the mother to a few demigods he was rivaled with, he still a duty to perform - a mission of peace and diplomacy. "We need to discuss some things with you guys."

"Very well, I will gather them," he said, as he emerged from his wheelchair state and into a fully grown centaur. The others were astonished by this, gasping in surprise. Lucius, however, was not amazed, having seen the mentor perform this feat time and time again. "In the meantime, please feel free to make yourselves comfortable in the basement. Your meeting will begin shortly, I'm afraid."

"Why is it that these Greeks never let us venture very far from where we're supposed to be?" Marcus asked aloud while they walked through the doors of the Big House. Lucius never thought of that before. He had been given free reign to go wherever in the camp, the last time he was there. "I mean, its like we were either in the cabins sleeping, eating with the other campers, or competing. There wasn't a whole lot of free time for us to do... whatever when we were here. Sure, the Senate put restrictions on the Greeks back home, but those were to protect them, not to imprison them."

"You just answered your own question, Marcus," Carolina replied, sitting down at the corner of the ping pong table. She was one of the few Romans that was pro-Greek during the series Greco-Roman turmoils that occurred throughout the course of the war. "Maybe they were trying to protect us. You do remember the accident that happened right?"

The accident. Lucius remembered that event. There had been an explosion of some kind that damaged some of the cabins, and even injuring some of the campers. None of the Romans visiting were harmed, which built up even more suspicions and tension between the two camps. If fighting a war was not bad enough, they had to make sure they were not going to kill each in their sleep. Luckily, they had managed to put aside their differences. The war was over, but the peace between the Greeks and Romans was only superficial. There was need for some kind of binding contract, an oath, to prevent any kind of war between the two camps, one that would last generations to come.

Before long, the four Romans could hear several sets of footsteps coming from the wooden floor above them. Carolina looked at Marcus nervously. Lucius guessed that they were probably uncomfortable being under the Greek's care. Its like leaders stepping down to be led. As much as they hated or were uncomfortable with it, they had to if there was to be any form of peace. Several campers in their traditional orange t-shirts came filing in, glancing over at the four Romans who were already seated. Lucius was able to recognize some faces, the others must have been able to do the same. The son of Mars noticed Clancy's eyes widen when he saw a tall lookalike of himself walk through.

When everyone was seated, Lucius looked around for the Hermes Cabin representative. It would greatly help if he were able to have Jacob Epperson on his side. Even Erin Peake would be of help in this discussion. But the son of Mars saw Chris Beas sitting in the Poseidon Cabin seat alongside a taller girl, with similar features. She was not Leah, Ryan's girlfriend, and she was not Erin. He also noted Gary was sitting in the Apollo Cabin seat, alongside Savannah del Rosario. Lucius and Gary were not the best of friends, but he had hopefully the son of Apollo would not stand against a peace between the two camps. Thankfully, Alex Courtenay and Benjamin Smith were in the Zeus Cabin seats. They were both good friends and it could only be good that they were there. The discussion began as soon as Chiron rolled in his wheel-chair form.

"You'll have to excuse me, children," Chiron said. "It seems this is the only way I can fit in this room. Right, demigods, Camp Jupiter has sent forth a diplomatic envoy to discuss terms with you. Legionnaires, the floor is yours."

"Thank you, Centaur," Marcus said, standing up from where he sat. Some of the campers exchanged bitter looks when the Centurion had referred to their teacher and mentor as just some Centaur. Lucius cringed a little. He may have been the most experienced with the Greeks, but he could not break the chain of command in order to save face. He sat there and waited to see how things would play out. "Demigods of Camp Half-blood, I, Centurion Marcus North, from the Twelfth Legion of New Rome, wish to extend an agreement of peace between our two worlds. As my Praetors have confirmed, we have- "

"Just hurry up and say what you have to say," one of the campers spoke out. He had a Hispanic accent in his voice. All heads turned to look at the camper. It was Nicholas Lobo, a son of Hades. He was one of the few demigods that completely distrusted Romans. It took months just for the son of Mars to earn his trust. "What is it that you Romans want?"

"Ahem, we have been sent by our Senate to propose a peace charter between Greeks and Romans," Carolina said firmly, standing up to support her fellow Centurion. Lucius was still silent was afraid of the worse to come. She was technically his fiance, and would hate to see her be cut down by the Greeks' distrust of Romans. "All we ask is that you sign the charter. You could read it before you decide, we even brought a copy of it, should you wish to."

"What does this charter contain?" Alex asked, playing the role of politician. Lucius understood that he needed to keep composure in front of his fellow campers. He knew that the son of Zeus had the best intentions. "We can agree that we want peace, but we need some kind of insurance that we have the Romans' full support."

"We can't have you stabbing us in the back, after all," the Clancy lookalike muttered. Murmurs spread between the campers, mostly agreeing with the tall camper's statement.

"A war between our two camps would not be beneficial, Dennis," Gary said under his breath, but loud enough for some people to hear it. "We almost lost the last war because we couldn't keep our cool around each other. I don't know what kind of enemies we face for the future, but we won't stand a chance if we aren't fighting them together."

"Agreed," Ryan Osborne, Lucius' Greek half-brother, said. The son of Ares was a war veteran like Carolina and Marcus and Jacob. "I have fought in two too many wars to have to grab my gauntlet and go against our Roman counterparts. Lucius, what do you think?"

All eyes turned on him. He technically was not supposed to speak without a Centurion's permission, but it was clear that the Legion's rules no longer applied in the East.

"As a Roman, I am sworn to defend New Rome against all enemies," Lucius said, referring to the Legion's oath he had taken in order to join the ranks. "Which is why I do not wish to make any of you an enemy. New Rome needs allies, as does Camp Half-blood."

"Well spoken... brother," Marcus said in an almost annoyed tone. The Legionnaire remembered that the Centurion did not like it when his floor was stolen from him, even on a critical mission like this. "I wish to know of your decision."

"They'll need time, Marcus," Clancy spoke, all of the sudden. As much as Lucius was surprised to see Clancy break the chain of command, he had to agree. The camp leaders needed time before making a big decision like this. "If you want, we could wait in the Mess."

"That will be good, Legionnaire," Chrion nodded. "Alex, Ben, Thea, Ryan, Gary, Dennis, Nicholas, Carter, and Seline, I need you stay behind. There are some things we need to discuss. As for you officers, I will need you two to stay behind as well. The rest of you are dismissed."

Clancy and Lucius waited in awkward silence in the Mess, all by themselves. It was really awkward for Lucius, and he doubted it was any different for Clancy. But the son of Mars knew that this was his opportunity to try to bury the hatchet with him.

"So... Clancy, what are your thoughts on the charter?" Lucius asked, trying to break the ice. They have been set on the same mission for the same goal, but each member of the mission team had their own motives, good or otherwise. The son of Mars was curious as to what Clancy's mindset was.

"The Legion doesn't need any more enemies," the son of Apollo scowled. "Especially after the destruction of the del Sol legacy, thanks to you."

"I didn't kill him, Clancy!" Lucius said in his defense. "There was no reason for me to, and even if I did, I was cleared of that."

"By publicly humiliating me?" Clancy raged, coming face to face with his fellow Legionnaire. "You thought killing me would clear your crime of killing another? You thought that would bring him back? You are so clueless!"

"You need to realize that I didn't do it," Lucius urged. He hated having to defend himself, even though he knew he had never even met a man named Martin del Sol. He hated Clancy for harboring this grudge for over what seemed a year. "I couldn't have done it."

"It was your weapon!"

"I was framed," Lucius said. "The Order even admitted that. You were there. You remember."

"Then you are the only to blame!" Clancy finally said. "No one else is stepping forward!"

"Clancy, what kind of argument is- " Lucius was about to say before he noticed someone else in the Mess. It was a girl, with dark hair and blue eyes.

"Uh, are you guys going to be a problem?" Kori Maka asked, putting her hands on hips to show she meant business. "Because there is a big discussion going on in the Big House. So if you want things to go smoothly, I suggest you guys make your peace right here and now."

"Kori, wha- " Lucius was about to say, but held his tongue. His Greek half-sister was right, it would do the Legion no good if they were feuding while their Centurions discussed peace terms with the Cabin leaders. "Fine. Clancy, I want this to end. I really do."

"Then please, throw yourself off a cliff," Clancy said as he rolled his eyes. "I demand retribution."

"Then you two should find whoever did kill Martin," Kori suggested, who was still standing there to make sure the two Legionnaires would make their peace. "As soon as you get back to Camp Jupiter."

"But, I needed to do something really important... " Lucius said. He was referring to his plans with Carolina. He needed to do them before she officially retired, which would be right after the mission debriefing. "But after that, I can do it."

"Fine," Clancy grunted.

The four Romans had been allowed to stay the night at Camp Half-blood, so that they may journey safely the next morning. Marcus and Lucius borrowed bunks in the Ares Cabin, while Clancy stayed in the Apollo Cabin, and Carolina in the Poseidon Cabin. Lucius asked Marcus a lot of questions, even as the Centurion tried to sleep.

"How did it go?" Lucius asked, his head hanging over from the bunk above his half-brother. "What did they say?"

"They said we need to talk more in the more morning," Marcus said sheepishly. Lucius heard a yawn coming from him. The Legionnaire was too anxious to sleep, even if he had been traveling by foot for some time. "Now go to sleep."

Before Lucius could protest, he heard snoring coming from the Centurion.

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight," Lucius joked to himself as he got down from the bunk bed. He put on his clothes and shoes and exited out through the door to the Ares Cabin. He needed to tire himself out from his anxiety if he were going to get any sleep. He knew that they were going to be heading back to Camp Jupiter as soon as the Camp Counselors could reach a verdict, which meant he would need a good night's rest, and not just hours of restlessly lying in bed.

In his purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt and blue jeans and black combat boots, Lucius jogged to the quickest path to the woods. He had his trusty gladius in hand as he darted down past the cabins and into the tree line. The woods always had monsters, but even monsters had to sleep. Lucius would use this opportunity to get a last run-through of the camp before he headed back home. He liked Camp Half-blood, but knew that his place was in New Rome, where his future with Carolina could begin. Which was why he took this time to run through the woods just one last time.

The son of Mars soon came to a small clearing, probably somewhere in the middle of the forest. He could hear the faint sound of water rushing down a stream somewhere off to his East. But the water was not the only sound he heard. Lucius turned quickly at the sound of a twig snapping. Before stood a dark figure, with just a hint of the camp t-shirt's orange color. The moonlight showed that it was Nicholas Lobo who was standing there in the opening, staring at Lucius.

"You know you're supposed to be in the Ares Cabin, Luc," Nick said, resting his hand on the hilt of a weapon. Even though Nick and Lucius were friends, the tensions between Greeks and Romans were still very much high. "You should go back to bed."

"Have you been watching me this whole time?" Lucius said a little angrily. The son of Mars was all too aware of Nick's withdrawal to shadow-traveling, often watching people from his isolated realm. It was really weird and invasive. "You should have just said something. You know I hate it when you do that."

"Maybe, but still," Nick jested for a moment, then returning to a serious tone. "Go back to the cabin, now."

"No, I won't," Lucius said, crossing his arms. Nick kept his serious expression unchanged. But there were more important things that he needed to know, and Nick was going to be the person to answer his questions. "Why weren't Jacob and Erin at the meeting today?"

"I don't know," Nick said, moving in a step closer, his hand still firmly on the hilt of his sword. Lucius guessed it was Stygian Iron, the preferred metal of children of the Underworld. "They left yesterday, something about going to work on some house or something. I don't know. They went West. Now, go back to your cabin, or I'll bring Diablo in this."

"I'm not afraid of your hellhound, Nick," Lucius said in a very serious tone, even more serious than Nick's. He knew it would prove to be some kind of challenge to take them on both, but he was not going to surrender his time in the woods to Nick. He had something up his own sleeve. "I'm actually kind of glad you're here. You remember when I first to camp, in the armory?"

Lucius showed his left palm, which had a huge scar on it. He had taken a blood oath that he would not kill Nick until after the war. And they had just finished their victory party a week ago.

"What, no... you can't be serious!" Nick said, a little worry in his voice. He pulled out his sword and whistled. In the next moment, a massive dog-like creature bounded out of the shade, its fur as dark as Hades. "Think about what're about to do, Roman. Its two against one. You're outmatched."

"You're right about one thing, Nick," Lucius said, pulling out his own gladius from its scabbard. "It _is_ two against one. Which means _you_ are outmatched."

"What? You're crazy, you know that?" Nick said in denial. "Diablo, take this Roman back to bed. Be gentle."

"Right... " Lucius said, blinking for just a split-second, but as he opened his eyes, his head turned to face a huge black mass coming at him in just tenths of a second. He was knocked over after just blinking! Quickly getting back up, Lucius kept his guard up against any future sneak attacks. Nick was nowhere in sight, which meant he was playing on his strengths. Lucius guessed the son of Hades was not so dumb after all.

He stopped breathing for a second to listen or any disturbances. It had not been the first time he had fought Nick, but when he did, he noticed that the son of Hades was not entirely quiet. Lucius honed in on any breathing noises. He felt a warm breeze of exhaling breath hit his left. He quickly swiveled to parry the incoming attack. He cringed as the sound of metal clashing against metal sent sparks flying onto his face. Before he could swing his own blade, he felt the cold of someone entering shadow travel pass over him. Nick was too fast!

Lucius rolled back into the clearing, where the moonlight was cast. He kept his back to the moon, hoping his plan would work. He waited, hearing the sounds of paws running against the ground and footsteps hitting dirt. Nick was definitely getting better at hitting from uncovered flanks, Lucius noted. In the next moment, Diablo running out from the shadows, just like before, but Lucius did something they would not be expected. Instead of trying to hold his ground, he charged right at the oncoming hellhound, rolling out of the way before the two collided. Before he got his bearings, he could hear a body hit the hellhound.

"Argh!" Nick yowled as he got his battered body up from the ground. Lucius took this moment to his advantage, sprinting right at the son of Hades. Before he could close in, however, he was knocked over by Diablo again. Lucius got back up and redirected his attention to the hellhound. It came charging in again, but Lucius held his ground. Timing his swing just right, the son of Mars landed a clean punch right onto the hellhound's face. He felt the sounds of cartilage cracking as his fist embedded itself into Diablo's face.

"Diablo!" Nick shouted in anger at the sight of his dog-friend breaking his nose. Lucius turned his head to see the reaction on the son of Hades' face. He saw the anger explode and rage explode on the kid's face. That was the reaction he was hoping to get Nick into. If Nick was enraged, he would be unfocused, unhinged, but at the same time, he would be just a tad more dangerous. Lucius decided that he was going to risk that if he was going to go through with his promise. "I am going to kill you for that, Roman!"

"I'd like to see you try, Bonehead," Lucius said, trying to even further throw off Nick's tempo of concentration. So far, he was playing right into his trap. Before he could say another word, Nick threw up his hands, causing the ground to violently shake. In seconds, bone hands, skeleton hands started clawing their way out of the ground.

"Funny you should mention bones," Nick said, giving off an evil smile before charging in with his army of skeletal followers. Lucius was glad to have brought along his special gladius, which was forged from various mythical metals, including Celestial Bronze and Stygian Iron. He was prepared for this fight, and he was going make sure Nick would regret calling out the dead to fight his fights for him. "Soon I'll be summoning your bones!"

This time, instead of egging Nick on, Lucius threw his gladius in an arc. The blade cut through a couple of the skeletons, causing them to explode, bones crashing onto the ground or against other skeletons. When the sword was swirling, Lucius activated one of the weapon's powers.

"_Vicis!_" the son of Mars shouted, causing him to instantly teleport to where the sword was. He ended up a yard behind Nick, who was completely thrown off guard by the maneuver. Lucius followed up in his attack with a series of flourishes, courtesy of the Roman Legion. The son of Hades was formidable with the sword, but Lucius was better, much better. He switched to his gladiator moves, swinging his blade against Nick's, then striking with a headbutt. The strike to the head caused Nick to flinch for a moment, his hand to his head. Lucius was about to finish him off when he felt his side explode in pain. One of the skeletons had slash at him when he was busy with Nick. The wound was beginning to heal, but Lucius got angry. He turned his attention to the skeletal warriors, who were no match for an angry son of Mars.

Rolling through, Lucius leapt and cut down the remaining skeletons. He soon found himself standing in a clearing littered with various bones and skulls. Nick had fallen back into the shadows, biding his time, waiting for Lucius to lose his guard, but the son of Mars knew better. He would have to bait him out if he wanted to land a blow another blow on the guy.

"I guess I fight a coward," Lucius chuckled, playing on Nick's anger. He heard a growl from somewhere in the woods, but kept his attention to the shadows that the moon cast. He had his back to the lunar face again, this time under a different strategy. He waited, timing when he would move and strike. Lucius felt the cold chill of shadow travel in front of him, causing him to swing his sword at where he thought Nick was. Once again, he cringed when the sparks flew off onto his face, but this time he tried something he had not attempted before. He drew his hand in, to just below where he could hear Nick's breathing. When his fingers felt skin, he clamped his hand, hearing the sound of a choked person. "Gotcha."

"Let... me... go!" Nick gargled, his throat held by Lucius' iron grip. The son of Hades started swinging, one of them hitting Lucius square in the jaw. It threw the son of Mars off guard, forcing his hand free of Nick's neck. Hitting the ground, the son of Hades coughed while Lucius tried to get his bearings back. But the son of Mars was able to recover first, going right back to his adversary, but he was just as fast, already falling back into shadow travel.

Lucius did not want to try the same trick three times, so he dove for Nick, grabbing only his ankle. The rest of his body was already immersed in shadow travel, which pulled harder than the son of Mars' grip. Changing his pull to just a tug, Lucius pushed himself into the shadow, his hand still tightly gripped on his ankle. He was immediately swallowed into the cold, life-draining aura that was shadow travel. Lucius worked his way up Nick's leg, phasing in and out of shadow travel with his host.

They crashed through glass, shadow, bushes, shadow, a small stream, more shadow, then a rock. They both ended up on Zeus' Fist somehow, Nick having hit his side against a rock during their tumble in and out of shadow travel. Lucius echoed the blow, his body shaking from going in and out shadow travel repeatedly. He hated being in that realm. Nick recovered, still laying against the rock. His hands scanned the area for his weapon but retrieved nothing. Lucius was not so unlucky. His weapon was bound to him, should he call for it. The only way it would leave his possession is if it were given to someone else, or he died.

"This is for all the times you've called me an outcast!" Lucius said, grabbing Nick by the collar and punching him with his free arm. That was the second hit, followed swiftly by the third, fourth, and fifth. His anger was just being vented out onto Nick's face. "For every time you've disrespected me, my Mom, and my girlfriend!"

Before he could any more swings in, Nick managed to hit Lucius again, but the son of Mars returned the gesture with a sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth. The memories of him and Nick were beginning to surface. And it just made things worse.

"For leaving turning on me in Indianapolis!" he continued his rant, with the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth blow to the face. Nick looked like he was painted in red, his eye swollen and his lip torn. But he was not done yet. The son of Hades tried throwing another punch, but it was not enough to throw him off. Lucius' own punches were beginning to slow. "This for bringing me to safety after years of being on the run! Six years!"

Thirteen.

"For helping me look for Carolina!"

Fourteen.

"For helping me save my future fiance!"

Fifteen.

"For my promise!"

Lucius was about to throw another punch, but he was in between laughing and crying.

"I made a blood oath, Nick," Lucius said to the half-conscious son of Hades. He just moaned in complete pain. "But I can't kill you. I just can't. Not after everything we've been through. I can't do it! I can't!"

The son of Mars towered over Nick and watched him pass out. He talked to him even after he was far from regaining consciousness.

"You need to get out more," Lucius said to Nick, even though the conversation was one-sided. He gave the son of Hades a light slap, in a joking manner. "You know, like jog a bit, it'll help with your fighting. Hey, did I tell you I'm gonna propose. You could come, but I'm letting Jacob be my best man, no hard feelings."

Lucius spent the whole night talking to Nick who was still unconscious. It was the best time they ever had. He had never seen a sunrise before, so he stuck around with him until Apollo had displayed his glory. Lucius took Nick to the Infirmary before heading back to the Ares Cabin.

Later in the morning, after breakfast, the Romans and the Cabin Counselors were called back to the Big House to finish their peace talks. Lucius had heard word of Nick's face looking like a failed art project. The son of Mars could not help but giggle to himself when he saw him at breakfast.

"I take it you're responsible for that?" Marcus asked, without even looking at his half-brother. He sat next to him for the meal. "How many hits?"

"Fifteen, including a headbutt," Lucius said plainly.

"Hm, I think thats a record for the Second Cohort," Marcus said, still eating his food. "Too bad no one was there to record it."

Once all the participants for the meeting had assembled in the basement, Chiron allowed the discussion to begin.

"We here at Camp Half-blood has agreed to uphold peace with the Twelfth Legion of Camp Jupiter and New Rome," Alex Courtenay said. "On these terms... "

"If we're gonna fight a war against some guys who want to bring the end of the world, we want you to stand with us," Ryan butted in. "We're not going to fight the same battle on different fronts anymore."

"We also want to continue competitions between the two camps," one of the Hecate Cabin representatives spoke. "Its almost time for another Demigod Olympics. The second one if I'm not mistaken."

"We also want living space within your city, New Rome," Ryan added. "We're going to grow old, and we'll need a place to raise a family."

"Not to mention free visits to the city," Gary said. Clancy's eyes gazed at him when his half-brother spoke. They were good friends during the war, and Lucius guessed they would continue to be afterwards. "Preferably without that crazy statue bust frisking me without hands."

"And if we could, we could have some celebrations together," Ben said reservedly. Lucius knew that the son of Zeus was not an adept speaker, and was often afraid to speak his mind, but did not judge him for it. He was there when his father had temporarily disowned him, taking away his powers. Luckily, another Roman, Jason Grace, and his half-brother Alex, had gone to help him get it back. Lucius remembered how sad he was when he had to spend time in the Hermes Cabin with him and Jacob. He knew what Lucius had to go through living at camp. Ben was also really humble, which made him pretty cool. "Like a summer BBQ here, and New Year's over at your guys' place?"

"Those are our terms," Alex said, after having his floor stolen from the other campers. Lucius knew Alex always tried to take on the leader type, which reminded him of Marcus for some strange reason. But he shook off the thought. "Should you abide by them, we will promise to lend aid to your camp during times of war, and we will safeguard your Eastern flank. Do you agree to our terms?"

Marcus and Carolina talked to each other silently. They had to make a decision that reflected not only the four of them for the mission, but the entirety of Camp Jupiter and New Rome. Lucius could feel their stress radiate off of them. He also noticed Clancy look a bit tensed, just as he was. The son of Mars wondered if it was because of the incident the day before. The two of them would need to contact William Amos if they were going to get any kind of lead on the real killer. He had hoped that the assassin was still able to be found.

"We can agree to your terms," Marcus was about to say, before taking a breath and sighed. "Except allowing Greek demigods residence in New Rome."

"We're sorry, but the city is not big enough," Carolina filled in, as the arguments began to build between the Cabin Counselors. Carolina glanced down in disappointment. Lucius knew that this was her last mission before retiring, and he would hate for her not to succeed, especially now.

"We shouldn't agree to their terms if we can't raise a family," Ryan pleaded to his fellow campers. Some of them nodded and murmured in approval. "Our own camp is barely big enough to house all of our campers year round! What if we had a section of the Field of Mars?"

"Ryan, we'd be putting our homes, family, and children at risk if we did that," Alex interjected. "There has to be another way."

"Maybe we could alter own camp," the Clancy lookalike suggested. "Chiron, is there some way we can expand the magical boundaries over into the next valley?"

"Perhaps," the old centaur mused, stroking his beard, pondering the idea. "It is currently vacant, and we could say we're just expanding the strawberry farms. But we will need to discuss that after we are done here."

"So we have a deal?" Marcus quickly asked, before any of the other campers could suggest something. "Are the terms acceptable?"

"We... can agree to that," Alex said, looking around among the faces of his fellow campers for some form of approval. A large portion of them nodded, while others looked the other way. "And what about you guys?"

"You have the word of the Praetors," Marcus said, standing up in defense of who Lucius thought was Reyna. He still was in the dark about what had gone on between them at the party, but kept it to himself for almost a week. "And the honor of New Rome. We Romans do not lightly back out of a promise."

"Romans and their promises," Nick muttered to himself. He was sipping a cup of ambrosia, which helped the bruises, but he still looked like a toddler's attempt at making a cake.

"Right, so I guess we'll sign your charter," Alex said, lifting a quill out of an ink well that Chiron had provided. The son of Zeus signed it, and passed it down to his fellow campers, along with the ink well and quill. "I see your Praetors have already signed it."

The charter went around the campers, who all signed it. Ryan took a bit longer, making his signature bigger than everyone else's. Lucius smirked at the son of Ares. Even Chrion signed it. But then the campers did something that Lucius was not expecting.

"We want you four to sign it," Alex explained. "We want your mission to receive its due."

"But, we... fine," Marcus protested for a second, before complying. He signed his own name in the corner where no one else's was close to. Lucius signed his next, above Marcus', which was soon overtaken by Carolina, and finally Clancy. It was a competition of signature placements. "Thank you. We will return this to our Praetors immediately."

"On behalf of the Twelfth Legion and New Rome, thank you," Carolina said, standing up. Some of the campers clapped, even Chiron looked happy. Lucius remembered the stories about the civil war that was fought between the Greeks and Romans. He guessed it must have been a resolution to an age-old problem for the ancient teacher. "And we hope this peace lasts well past our own generation."

The four demigods had just finished their debriefing with the Senate. Several of the Senators had got on their case for allowing additional terms to the Greeks, especially from the Advisory Panel, which consisted of older demigods and legacies, most of whom had already finished their years of service in the Legion. Even Reyna was not entirely happy with the team. Marcus and Carolina tried defending their actions, but were cut down pretty badly.

Overall, the Senate deemed the mission a success, dismissing the four demigods while they discussed among themselves their next course of action. Lucius was glad to be free of the Senate House. They never directly addressed him or Clancy, but always blamed Marcus and Carolina. He missed that about the Greeks.

An hour later, Lucius found himself walking down the streets of New Rome with his girlfriend, Carolina Westfield. They had met back up at the barracks before heading back to her place. He tried to convince her to take the long way home, to which she complied with. They cut through the corner Forum, before heading back into the Old Rome District.

"Hey, Knucklehead, I live on the other side of town, remember?" Carolina asked, after crossing the first block into the District. "You sure you know where you're going?"

"Yeah, its a shortcut," Lucius pleaded as they turned another corner. He took her to a secluded alley in the archaic setting of the Old Rome District. "I just have to pick up a couple of things."

They arrived to a side-door, which stood above a couple of steps. Lucius quickly darted up them before getting to the door. He pulled out a key that he was given and unlocked the door.

"After you," he said, swinging the door open for her. She went up the steps, eyeing Lucius, trying to see what he was up to, but went in through the door.

"This place is as dark as the inside of my closet," she joked. She went over to hit the light switch, unleashing Apollo's wrath. "That's better."

Suddenly, dozens of people emerged from behind the various furniture pieces, all yelling the same thing in unison.

Surprise!

Lucius saw her face flush red. She began to smile awkwardly before almost running back outside. He caught her before she did and they both laughed. Lucius had thought it was going to be a small surprise, but he was not expecting something like this. Still, he was glad that a lot of people had shown up. He even saw Erin and Jacob throwing confetti around. There were four multi-leveled cakes, one of them being red velvet, another with nutella as a primary ingredient, a rainbow cake, and a completely blue cake. Carolina, Darrien, and Erin's eyes grew when they looked at it. Jacob and Lucius almost blew out an appendix from laughing so hard.

Carolina was soon approached by a dark-skinned man. She turned to face him, Lucius knowing well enough who it was.

"Congratulations on your retirement, Centurion," Amos said as he hugged the daughter of Neptune. A blond-haired woman stood with the former Praetor. Lucius noticed she was holding a sack of some kind in her arms. "Have you met my wife? Mira, this is Carolina, from the Westfield family."

"A pleasure to meet someone from such a prestigious family," Mrs. Amos said. Lucius walked over and stood by Carolina. "I would hug you, but I've got little Howard here."

"He's so cute," The now-retired Centurion said, cooing the infant. "Thank you so much for coming."

A lot people came over to congratulate her on her retirement. Every now and then, Lucius would glance over at her forearm, counting the stripes. There were 15, not including the one she was supposed to get for the mission she had just finished debriefing for. He was so happy for her.

"Yo, Westfield!" Jack came in, hugging his former superior officer. "Congratulations! I guess that makes me Centurion, huh?"

"Maybe, Copperfield," Carolina said, pushing him off a little bit. "But you know the Third Cohort needs a cool-headed person to be Centurion, right? I think I should give the position to Liam... "

"You're kidding, right?" Jack chuckled. Abbey was standing with the shock-headed son of Jupiter. "Don't worry, I'll only get the Mural Crown every once in a while from now on."

"Thanks, Jack," she said, grinning.

"Darrow," the daughter of Minerva addressed Lucius.

"Gordon," he returned the gesture.

The partying kept going until Jack, Amos, and Jacob started calling for people's attention. Jack called up the guest of honor to the clearing that had been recently made.

"Okay, she's here," Jacob said, signaling for Lucius to move in. He worked his way past the crowds of people who were facing Carolina. The son of Hermes was busy trying to get an Iris message through. Erin was holding a camcorder. The biggest moment of Lucius' so far was about to happen. He found himself standing in front of his girlfriend. Amos and Jack called for everyone to quiet down.

"Hey, Freckles," Lucius greeted.

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking, now that you're no longer in the Legion, we could start a future... together."

"Oh gods, don't tell me- "

"So I came to thinking, that maybe this was the best place to do what I'm about to do."

"Lucius, you- "

"So now I'm standing here, just a humble soldier, asking you for one thing."

"Got it!" Jacob shouted, giving a thumbs up. An Iris message was open, showing several campers watching from the other side.

Lucius got down on one knee, his hand digging into his pocket. He had hoped it was there. His hand was sweating like the tongue of a hippocampus. In the next second, he pulled out a small black case, presenting it to her.

"Will you, Miss Carolina Westfield... " Lucius began to say. "... marry me?"

**... but before I go, I want you to remember this - no matter what you accomplish, be sure to accomplish the things you promised yourself you wold do. You can appreciate the things you did do, but you will regret the things you never did.** **End log 002**


	4. Chapter 3: Let the Games Begin

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is told from the first-person POV of Katrina Darrow, its word count being 18,259. I do not apologize for the length!

**Chapter III: Let the Games Begin**

**Dad had left 32 messages in the first scroll.** I spent the whole night watching them all twice. But when I had tried to open up the next one, it was locked! I was furious. Why would he send me recordings that I couldn't watch? My mind immediately began to create ideas of what he might have put in the other scrolls. But I was still angry that I couldn't open up the other ones. When I woke up the following morning, the first scroll was still in my hand. I never wanted to let it go - it was the only way I could see Dad. Before heading down for breakfast, I put all of Dad's recordings back into the satchel and put it underneath my bed. For some reason, I didn't want Mom to find them. Hopefully, she would start talking again.

Eating my favorite brand of cereal, I remembered something Mr. Amos had brought up yesterday. He had said he had wanted to meet me and talk about something important, some kind of offer. Jacob was chewing toast with his mouth open, while Mom just at the table, staring emptily at her coffee cup. She hadn't even taken a sip. I felt bad that Dad was gone, but I felt really bad for Mom. They had loved each other very much. And he wasn't here to say good morning to everyone anymore. I think thats what she missed the most about him. I missed him picking me up, even if I was 11. But I also missed the sword fights we would have. He was really good, so I was never able to beat him. I would never get the chance to.

"Mom, can I go to Howard's house?" I asked, after I had finished eating my breakfast. Without even looking at me, she nodded with her same, sad face. The shadows under her eyes had grown a lot since Dad died, which made me feel worse for just leaving her. "Thanks, I'll be back in a little bit."

Navigating the streets of New Rome wasn't too difficult if you knew where you were going. But the consistency of the Old Rome District, the part of the city I lived in, kind of confused me. Luckily, I had Rogan to help me out. He was waiting at his usual spot, in his favorite red scarf and a black, wool cap. He was probably waiting for me, knowing where I was going.

"Hey, Rogan," I greeted, walking up to him. He was standing at the corner, minding his own business before I came over.

"Hey, Ms. Darrow," he said, standing up from his leaning position. "You going to go see Willy?"

"You mean, Mr. Amos?" I corrected. "Yeah."

"Right then, let me take you to him," the faun said, before giving a nod to someone or something behind me.

"What are- " I tried to say before I felt something go over my face. I tried screaming, but something went over my mouth as well. My body was lifted off of the ground, so I couldn't kick and hit whoever was trying to take me. All I heard we're hooves for a couple of minutes. Then some kind of... metal door sliding across stone. We continued down somewhere. I noticed it was dark, like there was no natural light. But then I stated hearing human footsteps. Before long, I was being put on some wooden chair.

The bag was taken off of my head and immediately try to figure out where I was. It was pitch black, with only some kind of table in front of me. I couldn't see anything, until suddenly, light exploded into my eyes. I had been adjusted to the dark, so it took a while for my eyes to overcome temporary blindness. While my eyes adjusted, I was approached by a blurry figure, who looked like he was sitting down on the other side of the table in front of me.

"Hello, Katrina," I heard a familiar voice greet me. My eyes had still not completely adjusted to the light, so I wasn't sure, but it sounded like Mr. Amos. "I see you wish to take me up on my offer."

"What was that for?" I demanded, my eyes still squinting. I was angry. Why would Rogan do that to me? "You didn't have to do that!"

"I apologize for the roughness of my... _associates_," Mr. Amos pleaded, his voice still very much in control. "But my line of work requires secrecy. You are currently in a non-disclosed location."

"Fine," I muttered. After a moment, my eyes had completely adjusted. I was in a very dark room, with only a couple of lamp bowls against the walls. The room we were in was dome-like, without straight angles. Stone was the primary material used to make the room I was in, but it looked old and unkempt. "What kind of offer do you have?"

"Its simple, really," Mr. Amos explained. "I want you to join the Order of Romulus."

"The Order of Romulus?" I asked, having no clue what he was talking about. "What it is it, some kind of secret club?"

"You could say," he continued. "The Order is a very old and secret society, dating back to the creation of New Rome itself. One of its purposes was to carry out the will of the Praetors."

"But isn't that what the Legion is for?" I asked. "I mean, doesn't the army answer to them?"

"Yes, the Legion does follow the orders of the Praetors," Mr. Amos answered. "Which is the other purpose of the Order is to regulate the Praetors."

"So this Order tells the Praetors what to do?" I asked, interested at how this scheme worked. It didn't make sense. The Praetors the highest position in the Legion, and in New Rome. How could some secret club tell them what to do? "That doesn't make any sense."

"The Order does not operate as a public institution," Mr. Amos explained. He started using big words, most of them I didn't understand. "We are more like a secret police, who hold everyone accountable to the same standard, even the Praetors. I emphasize on the term _secret_."

"Wait a second... " I began to say. I thought back on Dad's recordings. He mentioned something about an Order. It was somehow linked to Martin del Sol's death, the reason why Dad never got along with some guy named Clancy Ward. "Didn't the Order kill Martin del Sol."

That's when Mr. Amos truly showed himself.

"In the past couple of decades, the Order of Romulus had deviated away from its traditional cause," Mr. Amos said, a little sadness in his voice. "It had suffered years of leadership under tyrants. In our time, Martin and I suppressed the Order, but they only returned years later. Your father, and others, purged the Order, doing what we could not."

"So why would you need me to join a group with no members?" I asked, still confused as to what he was trying to get at.

"The Order of Romulus can never truly be defeated," Mr. Amos admitted. "Martin and I never truly realized that until... it was too late. Your father thought he had defeated the Order, but I know for a fact that it will only resurface. That is why I am asking for you to join it. If the Order of Romulus will live once again, then I want trusted people to keep its secrets."

"So if I join, then I'll lead this group?" I asked. I wasn't much of a leader, more of a simple soldier. But I liked doing things my way. People like Howard didn't like that, but that was kind of who I am. I thought about it. I was only 11, still nine more years to go in the Legion. If I were to join, I would need to keep Uncle Marcus in line. I weighed out my options.

"I'll do it," I said after thinking about it. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, but I thought I was making the right choice. "I'll join."

"Good," he grinned, standing up. "Follow me."

We walked out of the dome-shaped room and into a much larger chamber. A ray of light fell from the ceiling onto the center of the floor, where a seal of some kind was designed. I walked over it and took a better a look. The design was massive triangular wolf's head in the circular seal.

From what I knew about mythology, more like history for me, was that Romulus and Remus, both twin sons of Mars, were raised by Lupa, the she-wolf. Unlike most recruits, I had never met Lupa. I was born into the Legion as legacy, my Mom and Dad already proving their ability to contribute to the state. Still, I had wondered if the stories of the she-wolf's unforgiving regiments were true. It would certainly be something.

Mr. Amos stood by one of the doorways. He had his arms crossed, like he was waiting for something to happen.

"Your fellow initiates should be arriving shortly," he simply said, before exiting down the doorway. Now I was completely left alone.

Before long, one of the metal doors slid open. Several footsteps echoed from its doorway before revealing the other initiates.

"... maybe then we'll know what we're dealing with," an older man said. He walked in first, wearing heavy armor, draped with a purple cloth. He stood a bit over six feet, with short, dark hair, and eyes that have seen many battles. The Praetor walked in with Howard, who was just at the house yesterday. "Ah, it seems your father has already sent us his recruit."

"Uncle Marcus?" I asked, trying to figure out what he was doing here. "And Howard?"

"Katrina," the Praetor greeted. "I see you two already know each other. Excellent. Now, where shall we begin?"

Uncle Marcus took Howard and I to another room, which was smaller than the large chamber. It was designed more like a place where people would plan things out over all the different tables. Like the other chambers, the lighting was provided by torches, and hanging lamp bowls.

"This is the War Chamber," Uncle Marcus pointed out. He walked over to a wall that had several photographs pinned up on a big map of the United States. "If you will, take a seat, you two. We have much to discuss."

The Praetor turned out a slide-reel with a clicker he had. A picture of New Rome popped up on the screen.

"Both of you are probably wondering what you're doing here," he began to explain. "You have both been called to participate in something much bigger than any one individual. You are to become the newly-founded Order of Romulus, a right hand of the Praetors, and a safeguard for the people. There is some things that we Praetors can not access to, this is where you are to come in."

"And just what are we dealing with?" Howard asked. He had been quiet up until now.

Uncle Marcus clicked his device, and the slide changed to a new picture. It was a photograph of some kind, taken from heightened vantage point. Like the picture from before, this new one was in black and white. I leaned in, squinting at what I was supposed to see. After taking a closer look, I could tell that were two figures, wearing some kind of hood, facing each other.

"I don't get it," I said, looking back at the picture. "Its just two guys in hoods talking. What's so suspicious about that."

"Take a look at their hand gestures," Uncle Marcus suggested. "It is consistent in previous observations on what we know as the Golden Age Movement."

"But that sounds like a good thing," I replied. Furrowing my eyebrows for a moment.

"Someone has to lead that kind of... revolution," Howard interjected, before the Praetor could explain. "But that person isn't you or your co-Praetor, is it?"

"You're pretty smart, Legionnaire," the son of Mars nodded, crossing his arms. "But we don't need the Legion or the people of New Rome to be distracted by a bunch of cultists. I want you two to assemble a team, observe, and report. Under no circumstances do I want you to interact with these people."

The way Uncle Marcus gave us instructions had reminded me of how strict Mr. Amos had been yesterday. But I tried not to mention it to him, or Howard. Still, I was being overloaded with all of these changes. I had gone from losing my Dad to one day, to being kidnapped by fauns the next. Uncle Marcus was about to continue giving us information, until Rogan came in, whispering something into the Praetor's ear.

"Rogan, how could you?" I demanded, already on my feet. I was about to hit him for what he had done. He was my friend. How could he just carry me off to some place like that?

"Sorry, Katrina," the faun apologized. "I couldn't take any chances. This is a secret society, after all."

My fists clenched. I was about to swing, when I felt a hand catch my arm.

"Why don't we go look for someone who we can recruit," Howard said, trying to throw off my attention. I regained control of my arm. "I think we've had enough time in the sewers."

"Fine," I muttered, glaring back at Rogan, who looked intimidated. "Who did you have in mind?"

"We already have Rogan on our side," Howard explained. "So that's a third of the faun gangs in the city already at our disposal. But I'm thinking we need influence in the Legion. What do you know about the Wards?"

Howard and I were running from rooftop to rooftop. He said we needed to sneak into some place. And since he didn't want to take the sewers, we were forced to approach the place from atop. I jumped from building to the next. Dad would have never let me do this kind of thing. And Mom wasn't supposed to know about this, so its not like anyone could stop me.

"Where are we supposed to be going?" I asked after stopping for a moment. We were back in the Old Rome district, close to my house. I wondered if Mom or Jacob would be able to spot me if they looked out of a window or something. I felt exposed, but it felt kind of liberating. I didn't have to be around Mom, who barely even spoke anymore. And I didn't have to watch Jacob all the time. I was still taking orders, but at least I wouldn't have to be accountable for anyone but myself. I was only 11 years old.

"The del Sol estate," Howard said, before scaling down the side of the building we stood on. I followed him down, going through a small alley, then back up another building. "We should be right by the garden."

"How do you know all of these places?" I asked, before reaching the top of a new building.

"I've been doing this for a couple of years," Howard admitted. "But I needed to wait for you to decide whether or not you would join us. Look, over there."

Howard pointed, from where we stood at the corner of a roof, to a boy standing in a garden. He shot arrows with his bow, which glistened in the sun. It must have been Imperial Gold, the standard for the Legion. He had a faint shade of orange hair color, but I couldn't see his face, because his back was to us.

"So are we going to talk to him or wha- " I was about to say, before I slipped. I froze as I almost fell off of the building, but Howard had caught me, using his quick reflexes. I probably wouldn't have been coming home if I had fallen. "Thanks, you saved me."

"Any time, Kat," he said, smiling a bit. Usually, I hated it when people called me Kat, because only my Dad would call me that. But I was okay with some people, like Howard using that name. Rogan tried calling me that once, and we may have been friends, but I made sure he wouldn't try it again. "You ready?"

"Yeah," I said, following Howard down. "Let's drop in for a hello."

"Really?" Howard asked me in a serious tone, as we descended into the del Sol garden.

We looked around for a second, before realizing the kid wasn't there anymore. I looked at Howard who was just as shocked as I was. But then a voice petrified us.

"What in Tartarus are you two doing in my house?" the orange-haired kid asked. He had his bow trained on Howard, who probably looked like a bigger threat, since he had a gladius strapped to his side. Good going, Howard. "You had better have a good reason, or I'll pin your feet where you stand."

"You can't make a shot like that," I challenged the kid. "That's impossible."

That's when he released his first arrow. Before even realizing what he had fired, I felt something hit my shoe. A looked down, only to find an arrow holding down my shoe, without even bringing harm to my foot.

"I'm the legacy of Apollo and Bellona, lady," the kid said in a defensive tone, readying another arrow. Again, he kept his aim fixed on Howard, who looked pretty calm. "I don't miss."

"Easy there, Scott Ward," Howard spoke, raising his hand in calming gesture. "We just want to talk."

"Oh yeah, well let's talk then," Scott replied, his bow still in a fixed position. "First, how do you know my name."

"I don't think we can talk like this," Howard suggested, referring to the position everyone was in. I was about to hit this kid. I liked these shoes! "How about we take this conversation inside? I could leave my sword here if you want."

"Fine, but don't do anything stupid," he said, lowering his bow. I kneeled down to get the arrow out of my shoe. "And don't talk to my sister."

"Geez, this guy is bossy," I said to Howard in a hushed tone, who rolled his eyes.

Inside, Scott took us to a somewhat large dining room. At least it was bigger than the one at my house. We sat at a small table, with Scott on one side of the table, and Howard and I on the other.

"So who are you and what do you people want with me?" he asked, still in a serious tone, even for someone his age. I wasn't even able to sound that serious, but Howard may have been able to. But he kept a calmer tone of voice, like he was negotiating.

"My name is Howard Amos, Legionnaire of the Second Cohort," he introduced. "And this is Katrina Darrow, also from the Second Cohort."

"Darrow?" Scott said to himself. "I've heard that name before... but I don't remember where."

"It was probably at his funeral," I said, almost angrily. "Which was yesterday."

"Oh, right... sorry," Scott muttered. For someone so serious, he was sure to drop the attitude pretty quickly. I thought that maybe he had gone to the funeral. At least he knew, which was good. I was getting tired of his attitude.

"You haven't joined the Legion yet, have you?" I asked, noticing how naked his forearm was compared to mine. "What Cohort were your parents in?"

"The First," he said. "My Dad is Clancy Ward. And my Mom... "

I noticed his voice grow sad when he began to talk about his Mom. I knew that feeling, losing a parent, which was why I decided not to ask about it. Scott's sadness reminded me of Dad's death, which made me sad all over again.

"I'm sorry to hear about," Howard quickly said, trying to keep Scott balanced. "She was a respected woman and member of the Legion. Is your father home, by any chance?"

"Thanks, and yeah, he's here, but... " Scott's voice began to trail off again. "He doesn't like to be disturbed at this time of the day."

"But its 2:30 in the afternoon!" I said in shock. Seriously, people were outside at the time of the day. "What could he be do- "

"That's alright, Scott," Howard said, interrupting me. I gave him a mean look. I was beginning to question why I had come along in the first place. "We actually wanted to talk to you, just you. So, this works out."

"Yeah?" he asked. "What did you want to talk about?"

"There's this group we are part of," Howard began to explain. Scott reminded me of how I was when Mr. Amos explained the Order of Romulus to me. Howard said almost the exact same things. It was like he had studied this or something. But in the end, he left Scott the choice. "So, will you be joining us or not?"

"Yeah," Scott finally decided. "I'll join the Order of Romulus."

"Then it's settled," Howard said, smiling. He shook his hand. "We have our team."

"We should have a name," I said. It was only fair that we have some kind of common identity. We couldn't just go around saying the Order of Romulus around anybody. "We should be called... "

"... an absolute disgrace!" Uncle Marcus shouted from above. He was circling the battle overhead in his pegasus, as his role of Praetor commanded during a War Game. Howard, Scott, and I were taking cover behind an almost destroyed barricade. Arrows, flying rocks on fire, and other projectiles flew across from one side to the other. The defending team was throwing some heavy opposition against our team, slowing our advance to a complete standstill. A demigod with an arrow caught in his knee trudged past us, screaming as he hopped back to cover. A medic soon ran over to help him out. Hopefully, he would be able to walk again. Sadly, he was our team captain. "My newborn children can perform sieges better than Team Fulminis! Get moving!"

"I think he puts too much faith in his kids," Scott muttered to himself, his hands still firmly gripped on his bow. It may have been a year since Howard and I first recruited him into the Order of Romulus, but the three of us managed to become pretty good friends. Even as Centurion at 14, Howard had managed to set aside plenty of time to hang out with us. "They're only like two weeks old or something."

"Either way, we need to get to their walls if we're going to do anything," Howard said. Most of his face was covered by his Centurion's helmet, so it was hard to tell who he was talking to. I decided to take a peak over our pathetic excuse for cover and tried to get a look at what we were up against. I saw a wooden fort standing on top of a hill. Archers were firing on different targets, while catapults were flinging rocks at our team. There was almost half of a mile of no man's land between us and the walls. But before I could get a better look, a nearby explosion knocked me off balance. Howard pulled me back before I became a sad rendition to William Tell. "What are doing? Keep you head down!"

"Next time its your face, _chica!_" one of the defenders yelled from the fort. He must have been the one with the bombs.

"I've got an idea," Scott said. A month ago, he had revealed to Howard and I that he was also a legacy of Minerva, from his Mom. I remembered the way he had described how his Mom had died. She was in labor with Scott's sister, Cindy, who is just year younger than Jacob. Anyway, she had died short after his sister was born. Scott had also said something about his Dad not taking it well. Unlike me, Howard treaded lightly around these kinds of things. As much as I hated it when he would stop me from asking questions like that, I admired his empathy for others.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked, doing my best to stay in cover.

"If we can suppress their archers, you two can cover some distance to the walls," Scott explained. It sounded risky, but we didn't have a lot of options. The rest of our team was still busy trying to catch up to our position. The size of group had allowed us to move up faster, but at the same time, we couldn't offer much resistance. So all that covered ground was really for nothing, unless the rest of our team caught up. "We're a little short on time here and Team Tornitruum only has to wait us out to win."

"You're right," Howard replied, looking around. "If you drew their attention, we'd be able to move in without too much attention to us."

"Got it," Scott said, checking his options before running out. "Maybe this orange hair was good for something."

Howard and I waited for our moment to strike. In the next second, Scott popped up from a crater he had jumped into, firing arrows at the defenders. He was good with the bow, so maybe he could take out a few guys before we even got to the walls.

"Let's go," Howard said, before hopping over the barricade. I followed suit, keeping low, but still moving a relatively fast pace. Since I was taller than most girls my age, I was able to keep up with my Centurion. In minutes, we were already at the base of the walls, panting from the distance we had covered. "I'll give you a boost. Go for the gates as soon as you get over."

"Got it," I said, as I hopped onto his shoulders. Somehow, my boot landed on his face. It made a decent footing, but I didn't think Howard took kindly to that. Before I could get confident in my hands, someone had come to see what was happening. Howard gave me a push up, giving me enough momentum to pull the guy off of the wall. With one less defender, I made my way on the battlement. It was then that I realized that I had just won the Mural Crown for the War Game. I knew I wanted to celebrate right then and there, but the defenders who had just become aware of celebrating probably weren't as enthusiastic as I was. "Right, I guess I won't be celebrating."

"Like Hades you are, Katrina," one of the defenders who were pointing their swords at me said. It sounded like one of my many, many cousins. She pulled her helmet off, showing her face to me. It was Joanna Peake, Uncle Darrien's daughter, which also meant Gwen wasn't too far away. "I mean, Pluto. Yeah, Pluto. Like Pluto you are!"

See, Joanna and Gwen are parents to a Roman Dad and a Greek Mom. I don't exactly remember how they met, but they ended having these twins. And since Romans don't like Greeks being in the Legion, their papers for a spot in the Fourth Cohort, where Uncle Darrien was, became almost meaningless. Thankfully, they were allowed in the Fifth Cohort. But to keep them well-rounded, the two usually spendt their summers over at Camp Half-blood. Another cousin of mine, Javier Beas, does the same thing, but in reverse, spending his summers in the Legion. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at the time, but I knew something wasn't right.

Instead of talking with Joanna, I went straight for the weapon engagement, already drawing _Vicis_, Dad's old gladius. While everyone in the Legion may have been trained the same way, I, along with Scott and Howard, had trained as part of the Order. We had to be the elite among the elite. It was hard, keeping up with both the Order and the Legion simultaneously, but we managed. Now, after a year, my hard work was beginning to pay off.

I jumped in for superman-punch, only it was more of a stab. The attack caught Joanna off guard, forcing to her to retreat a few steps back. But I as much as I wanted to resume the attack, I knew I would be overwhelmed in minutes. I had to get the gate open before...

_Boom!_

I was thrown off of the battlement, crashing onto the hard dirt. Before I was up on my feet, I heard _that_ voice.

"Well, well, well," she said, in her annoying blond hair. She stood with several other members of Team Tornitruum, who had their weapons pointed at me. One of them was tossing a small black orb up and down. It looked like an Acme bomb, which made me nervous, but angry. Mostly nervous. "I was beginning to wonder when the muck of the Second Cohort would show her ugly, little face."

"Copperfield," I addressed the Legionnaire. Her name was actually Hannah Copperfield, but I didn't feel nice enough to say that. I hated her, for every little scheme or plot she had against me. It was ever since last year, during the muster. She was supposed to be in the Second Cohort, but I took up the last available space. And its not like she could just transfer over when there was room. A Cohort is a life sentence. So now she hates me, and I hate her more.

"Darrow," Hannah replied coldly.

"I'm sensing you two have something against each other," the bomber said. "This is good."

"Shut up, Alvarez," Hannah scolded. I knew this was my opportunity to strike. I ran in for Hannah, knocking her over with my momentum. The Alvarez guy threw a bomb at me, but it embedded itself in the sand right in front of me.

No explosion.

Picking it up, I threw it at the guy. Mars' blood was good for these kinds of things. Alvarez was about to throw another bomb at me before I knocked him over, sending his new explosive right where it needed to be - the main gate.

In a well-placed explosion, the gate was obliterated, projecting timbers and splinters of wood everywhere. Some of the demigods nearby were knocked over by the explosion, while others were stunned by the amount of wood flying at them. I was one of those people. While I was busy trying to getting this really big splinter out of my arm, I saw Howard jumping through the wall of inferno that had been created by the bomb. Apparently, wood burned really well. The Centurion came over to help me up on my feet.

"Go, get the flag!" he commanded. I noticed Scott wasn't too far behind, only a couple of yards away before he would be inside the fort. The splinter was still stuck in my arm, but it wasn't my sword arm, so I would have to send the pain below. I remembered how Dad was able to heal his own wounds. Something like that would've helped. Still, I had a job to do. I had come too far to give up now. "I'll hold them off from here."

I ran up to the fort's inner defenses. For some reason, there wasn't as much resistance I had thought there would be. They must have not wanted to win so much. But the further I got into their defenses, I realized that our team had finally attacked the fort, but from another side. That's when I heard gunfire.

Ducking down, my ears burned to the sound of a bullet speeding past me. The shot came from somewhere nearby. I didn't want to test my luck twice today, so I kept my head down.

"Come on, Gwen," I said from behind cover. "You know guns aren't allowed."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kat," Gwen said from gods know where. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of this gun firing."

"Very funny, now come on and face me like a real Roman," I challenged. I knew I couldn't take her own from a distance, so I would have to force her out. Then I the odds would be stacked in my favor. "Oh, wait, you're half-Roman. My bad."

"That is totally not funny Katrina Da- " Gwen said before she was cut off. I looked over to see the mighty markswoman taking cover, behind a battlement with an arrow sticking out of it. I looked over and saw Scott drawing another arrow.

"I'll keep her busy," Scott grunted, firing another arrow at Gwen's cover. "But you need to go. Now!"

He didn't have to tell me twice. I kept running, even though I was beginning to feel a little light-headed, but I couldn't tell why. But I kept going, nonetheless. The defenses were getting smaller and smaller as I got closer to what I thought was the flag post. It may be guarded and it may not. I wasn't sure, but time was not something I could afford. It wasn't only Howard and Scott who were counting on me, but the rest of the First and Second Cohorts as well.

That's when I saw it - the blue flag that flowed in the dusk win. My goal was within reach, my abilities, as depleted as they may have been, I was knew I could do it. But as soon as I got within ten feet of the flag, two figures emerged from the shadows themselves.

They both towered over me in Legionnaire's apparel, mirroring each other in appearance. Their dark eyes showing almost no life, no humanity in them.

"Two against one?" I muttered to myself, falling into my stance. I noticed I was moving very lethargically, like my movements were hindered by something, but I couldn't tell what. It was to become a problem now, but not a nuisance later. I was in trouble. I couldn't take on two Legionnaires in this condition, let alone one of them in better health. "This is insane. This is madness."

"Madness?" one of the Legionnaires asked the other.

"THIS IS DA' FEET!" both of the Legionnaires said in unison as they kicked me off of the encampment. I fell much further than I did over the first wall, because I was out as soon as I hit the ground.

_I dreamt I was back home, sitting in front of the fireplace. The room was completely dark, except for the light provided by the fire. I was wrapped in a blanket. And I saw Dad sitting next to me. He too, was wrapped in a blanket, trying to stay warm. I leaned against him, trying to steal his body heat._

_"So how was your day?" he asked, his red eyes almost sparkling from the firelight._

_"Nothing much," I simply said. "Just a Mural Crown."_

_"And did your team win?" he asked, as if expected me to know. "Its great that you were the first over the wall, but was it worth it?"_

_"I- I don't know if we won," I said, my voice drifting off a bit. "I got knocked out or something. But I was close to touching the flag."_

_"Why don't you wake up?" he asked in a hushed tone. "Your friends are waiting for you to wake up."_

_"Yeah, but I like being here, with you," I said, trying to justify my presence. "I miss you, a lot."_

_"Did you get any of my new messages?"_

_"No, they're locked. I can't get them to open. Did you have some kind of key for them?"_

_"They open when its the right time."_

_"When is that?"_

_"When you are at your most vulnerable."_

_"How do I know when that happens?"_

_"You don't - that's the beauty of it. Katrina, wake up."_

_"In a little bit."_

_"Katrina, wake up!"_

"Katrina, wake up!" I heard a familiar voice command. I had been pulled away from such a good dream. I never wanted to leave, so I started tearing up where I laid. My vision was blurry, and my senses were dull, but I felt even more light-headed than ever. I felt almost sick. That's when the pain started kicking in. "Agh!"

"Hold still," Scott said, who was working on removing the piece of wood from my arm. The area around the wood had turned different colors like green and yellow. And Scott was busy trying to pull out the piece of wood, brining me so much pain. "This doesn't look good. What is that, gangrene? I need some ambrosia."

"Scott, maybe you should let the medic do it," Howard suggested, his voice full of fear and doubt. I had never heard him sound so vulnerable like that. "They could help Katrina."

"No, I've got this," Scott insisted. He kept going to work on my arm, almost forcing me to thrash in my cot. I felt so sick and so weak. The tent we were in was roughly the size of a small operating room. My vision started phasing between black and white. "I'm not going to lose her. Not like Mom, no. Just hold still, dang it."

"I'm getting help," Howard said, before running out of the tent. Scott kept doing what he could, but his efforts were in vain. He just wasn't skilled enough to treat this kind of injury. I was finding it out the hard way.

"Did we, did we win?" I asked, my voice barely able to produce an audible sound. "Agh!"

"No, we ran out of time," Scott explained. "We used the remainder of our time getting you to safety here."

"I'm sorry," I apologized, barely able to mouth the words. "How long has it been?"

"Its okay, but Howard didn't take the loss so well," Scott said, who took a break from operating on my arm. He went to go clean his tools in some jar full of a certain liquid. "Its been a couple of hours since we found you. We- Dad?"

"Scott, you've done your part bringing her here," a new voice said. It sounded like the man had some accent. Irish. From what Scott said, it must have been his Dad, Mr. Ward. "I will handle the rest from here."

"Its okay, Dad," Scott pleaded. I was too tired to turn my head to see what Scott's Dad looked like. "I've got this under control."

"Scott, your Dad can take it from here," Howard said. He must have brought Mr. Ward here in the first place. "This isn't your Mom we're dealing with. This is Katrina, remember?"

"B-but," Scott tried to say. He must have taken this seriously. He didn't want to give up, especially in this setting. "I can't let her die like Mom! I can't!"

"Howard, take Scott outside," Mr. Ward commanded the Centurion. Then I saw a red-haired man towering over me. He had a neatly trimmed red beard, and small blue eyes. "Now."

In the next moment, I felt an exposure of light for a second, only to be gone in the next. Mr. Ward pulled all sorts of tools outside of a bag he had brought with him. Some of them looked like scissors, while others looked like little knives.

"Here, drink this," Mr. Ward said, before helping me drink some liquid. It burnt my mouth as soon as it touched my tongue. I wanted to spit it out, but Mr. Ward kept pouring it. I swallowed it, trying to pull my attention away from the wound. It made me feel even more lightheaded, but in a good way. The pain in my arm wasn't feeling so bad, but now I was feeling a different kind of sick. It was in my stomach. "That should hold over for a couple of minutes. Like it? I call it hard medicine."

"Ugh, what was it?" I asked groggily. I felt like I wanted to throw up.

"Just a gift from my people," Mr. Ward explain. "It helps just about every situation."

"How?" I asked. I saw him pulling out the piece of wood that had embedded itself in my arm. It was covered in blood, my blood. The wound looked like a huge gash. I was surprised I wasn't feeling the pain as much.

"It helps them forget," Mr. Ward said almost sadly. "At least most of the bad things that have happened."

"Could I take some with me, then?" I asked. Maybe if I forget that Dad have ever died, then I wouldn't feel so bad it anymore.

"I'm sorry, Katrina," the red-haired man apologized. "This stuff isn't for children, no matter how much they want to forget."

"But... "

"Its alright," Mr. Ward comforted. "There are some things that we need to remember. Our losses show us who we really our. Your father wouldn't want you to forget."

I couldn't argue with him. All I could do was cry. It may have been a year since he had left, but it still hurt so much. I went through all 32 scroll recordings over and over again for the whole year. I thought that if I saw him at least once every day, even if it was just a recording, then it wouldn't feel like he was gone anymore. I felt like Scott, how he didn't want to give up on my operation. It made him feel by saving me, he wouldn't have to experience what if felt like to lose his Mom again. And it made me even more sad that there were ways to make people forget, but I wasn't allowed to use them.

"And we're done," Mr. Ward said. I hadn't realized how fast time had gone by since he had begun operating on me. "You should get some rest. Don't worry, the stitches are dissolvable, but you should make still get some rest. Even after today."

"Thanks, Mr. Ward," I said, before yawning. I was too tired to get up and go home, so I fell asleep. And that's how I lost a War Game. At least I was able to win the Mural Crown, the only one of the game. Still, it was kind of pointless to win an award if you don't win. I could see why Howard would be upset.

But even then, I hadn't realized how much loss I was going to experience.

It had been three weeks since the War Game. Three weeks to give me time to recover for what I had been assigned to do. Once or twice every year, either Camp Jupiter of Camp Half-blood ran a huge competition event called, the Demigod Olympics. From each camp were 16 fighters. It was something Uncle Jacob came up when he tried to establish communication between the two camps. For campers to participate in one of the 16 available spots, they had to pass some sort of preliminary qualification competition. In Camp Jupiter, only those who were ranked Legionnaire and higher were allowed to participate in the qualifiers. I was able to make it in the top 16 grouping, which landed me a spot in the Demigod Olympics.

Thankfully, Howard and Scott had also made it in the top 16 with me. Howard had made it in the top eight, which meant a lot of eyes would be on him. This year, however, Uncle Jacob volunteered to hold the tournament on his property, the Black-Hand Halfway-Home. I had been there enough times to know my way around, since I usually visited Uncle Jacob and Aunt Erin, and Cousin Trent, of course.

"So your uncle owns the place?" Scott asked as the three of us walked around the outside of the property. It was situated in Lebanon, Kansas, which was the equatorial center of the contiguous United States. So, for the most part, it was nothing but open country, except for the facility, which stood on an open plain. "But your Dad paid for it?"

"Yeah, he used to own Templeton Corporate," I explained. The complex was as large as the Borough Hotel, in Edinburgh. The design of the buildings were made in a contemporary brick ranch-style. It looked like a country palace in the middle of the Great Plains. "Lets see if we can find my cousin."

"What's his name again?" Scott asked. I usually didn't tell people that I visited a Greek family every summer, but I trusted Scott.

"Trent Epperson," I answered.

"I could have swore you had more cousins here," Scott muttered.

"I do, I think," I said, a little unsure. Aunt Kori and Cousin Ellen usually stayed at the halfway home and helped around. But something must have come up. "I'm not sure."

We kept wandering around until we got to the main Dining Hall. There were dozens of kids, ranging in all sizes, sitting, eating, talking, and just generally interacting with one another. The room was packed, as far as I could tell, since there was supposed to be some kind announcement as far as the competition. There was a hearth at one end of the room, and large windows that replaced parts of the wall, letting in much needed light. I had told, from time to time, that it was supposed to simulate dining patterns of both camps. It was kind of cool, kind of like a log cabin feeling.

That's when someone brushed up against me. It was like he wasn't even looking. I went back after him. As soon as I placed my hand his shoulder, I realized who it was.

"Oh, hey there, Kat," the guy said, smiling deviously. His differently-colored eyes twinkled like his Dad's did, but were shaped like his Mom's. I knew he was up to no good. So I wouldn't let him off easy.

"And just what are you doing, Trent?" I asked playfully. Trent and I go way back. If there was a best cousins award, we would have won by now, and several times over. Whenever I would come over to visit we would always do really fun stuff, like do tricks with the pegasi and convince them to go by various vegetable names. The one I rode with was called Zucchini. She never liked that name. "Up to no good, I take it?"

"What, me?" Trent asked, putting up his hands in defense. "You must have me mistaken for another legacy of Hermes. I would never be so crude as to divert my attention something so childish. This must be your friends, then?"

"Nice to meet you, Trent," Howard greeted, shaking hands with my cousin. The Centurion stood a great height over the Greek, but didn't try to emphasize it. Aunt Erin always said that Trent would grow up to be a tall, strong person, even if he was no taller than Scott, who was just an inch or two shorter than me. "Katrina has told us a lot about you."

"Thanks, but you have me at a disadvantage," Trent replied, before proceeding to shake Scott's hand.

"Howard Amos," the Centurion answered.

"Scott Ward," the young Legionnaire greeted. "You might know my cousin, Wyatt."

"Yeah, I have," Trent admitted. Giving a bitter look for a second. "He should be around here somewhere. He qualified for Camp Half-blood's top 16."

There were a lot of people. Most of them were younger kids, even younger than Scott. I had remembered that the facility was built for lost demigods, and most of those who Uncle Jacob and Aunt Erin had taken in were probably really young. It made me happy knowing that there were people like them doing good things like this.

Trent took us over to a secluded table, with only a couple of older-looking orange t-shirt wearing people. There were three guys that stood out distinctly from the rest. One of them was really tall, with dark, curly hair. The other was just a bit shorter, but with straight, lighter-colored hair. He had gold eyes, which caught me by surprise. It wasn't everyday you saw that, even as a demigod. The last, who was just as tall as the gold-color eyed boy, had most of his cut short, leaving just a dark blonde buzz cut. I knew I had met him from somewhere, but I wasn't sure exactly where. All three of them kept their distance from the other campers, discussing amongst themselves.

"And here's the cousin I was just talking about," the tall boy said. The other two looked over at Scott, who was looking a little short, even with Trent around. "What's up?"

"N-not much, Wyatt," Scott said, stuttering a little.

"You sure he's your cousin?" the gold-eyed boy asked Wyatt. At least I thought it was Wyatt he was talking to. "I thought Ward boys were merciless."

"Eh, we'll see in the arena," Wyatt challenged. "But who are these people? You know them, Trent?"

"Yeah, this is _our_ cousin," Trent introduced me to the group. "Katrina Darrow. And you know Scott."

"Darrow?" gold eyes asked, his ears perking up. "You must be Lucius' daughter. My father has told me so many stories of him. I'm sorry about the loss."

"Er, thanks," I muttered, standing a little awkwardly. It had been a year since Dad had died, and I wasn't too fond of remembering it. Even if this guy meant well, I still wasn't ready to deal with it.

"No problem, if you want to visit camp, just call me up," the guy said. At 12 years old, I hadn't realized he was flirting with me. At 12 years old, I simply interpreted his gesture as something out courtesy. Still, flirting or not, I couldn't but smile a bit. He was being nice to me and I didn't even know his name. "What about you, Mr. Quiet?"

"Amos," the Centurion corrected. I noticed how he tensed up when people gave him nicknames. Especially people that he didn't know. "Howard Amos, Centurion of the Second Cohort of the Twelfth Legion _Fulminata_."

"Ooh, he has a title," gold eyes joked. Wyatt and the other guy joined in on the laugh. Scott and Trent looked a little nervous, not sure whether they should laugh or look the other way. I was feeling the same way. "What next, pedigree?"

"I'm sorry, what was your name again?" I asked, trying to throw off Howard's attention. Even if we were going to be slashing swords at each other in a couple of hours, it wouldn't help anyone if we started something in the dining hall.

"Blake, Blake Courtenay," he said, grinning back at Howard. I knew I heard that last name from somewhere, but since I was in the middle of preventing a Greco-Roman war, I couldn't exactly extract it from memory.

"Then I guess I know who I'll be looking for in the brackets," the Centurion said, as if he were looking forward to facing Blake.

"This should be good," the buzz cut guy said. "Oh, that's right, I never said my name, did I? The name's Logan Osborne. My Dad teaches at Camp Half-blood. He's your uncle, which kind of makes us cousins."

"Cool," I said. I knew I had seen him before. He was my cousin! How could I forget my cousin? Well, Wyatt was my cousin through my Aunt Thea, who I had never really met, so I guess it was okay. Keeping up with all of the family was proving to be a little difficult.

Just before anyone else could get a word in, a microphone screech tore through the room. Everyone went for their ears, as if they could protect them. I looked over to the hearth, where a man with dark-blonde hair stood at a microphone. He wore a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

"Sorry about that," Uncle Jacob said into his microphone. He shrugged like a child who had just got caught red-handed. More like black-handed in his case. He seemed calm in the crowd of demigod children. "Are we all here? Good, now that I have your attention, we can finally begin with the competition."

A lot of people began to applaud cheer. Just about everyone in the dining hall had assembled there just so they could hear him initiate the competitions. I was a little nervous, well, really nervous. I was only 12 years old, three stripes for my Legionnaire status, and the reason why Team Fulminis lost the last War Game. I felt outmatched against the other 31 competitors, Howard and Scott being just two of them. Howard was already a Centurion of the Second Cohort, our Cohort. He had six stripes in just four years of service. Scott, on the other hand, had only just one stripe, but was really good with the bow. If I had to fight him for my first match, closing the distance to deal some damage would be really hard.

"In a minute, we'll have the brackets set up by the lovely Mrs. Epperson," Uncle Jacob continued. Trent put his face into his hands. He must have hated being embarrassed by his own Dad like that. I wanted to say that I felt the same way, but I didn't. I would have gone through embarrassment after embarrassment just to have him back. "And... the brackets are now up."

A screen opened up above Uncle Jacob. The images were starting to light up, while the lights for the room began to dim down. Trent had told me that the Dining Hall was often used to put on movies for the kids. Sometimes, conferences with Camp Half-blood were held. Dad had told me about the meetings he would have in his office, when he worked for the Senate.

As soon as I could see my name, my eyes began tracing through the brackets to see who I was facing. It was a Greek girl, Emily Rose, daughter of Aphrodite. She was 15 years old, three years older than me. For a second, I felt confident that my training in both the Legion and the Order of Romulus would pull me through, but then I looked at her quick stat sheet, from a pamphlet that all the competitors were given when they had arrived.

_Name: Emily Rose_

_Age: 15_

_Godly parent/lineage: Aphrodite_

_Facts: CHB camper for six years and recent success in her quest to retrieve Aphrodite's Rose from a tribe of Laistrygonian Giants. Has represented her cabin in the Camp Half-blood Demigod Games for the last two years with much success._

"Mars' bloody spear," I cursed under my breath. My first opponent, and I had to go against someone like this? Ridiculous! I looked to see if Howard, Scott, or Trent had hard opponents. Maybe if they were paired up against people who were harder than Emily, then I would feel a little bit better. Going down a couple of tiles, I saw Scott's name. I heard Wyatt shout in approval as soon as I read the Legionnaire's opponent - Wyatt Ward, legacy of Dionysus and Poseidon.

"Really?" Scott asked himself aloud. I could feel the desperation in his voice. Wyatt was two years older than him, taller, more muscular, and much more experience than his Roman cousin. I began to feel a little bit better for my own match, but I felt really bad for Scott.

"Sorry, Scott," I said, trying to make him feel better about his upcoming match.

"Its okay, I'm fine," he said. "At least for now."

I noticed Trent was supposed to face Larry, the other Centurion from the Second Cohort. He and Howard were pretty good friends, despite Larry's Dad, who was also named Larry supported some shady people during his career as Centurion. But that was during my Dad's generation, during the War with the Giants.

"Hey, Howard, do you have any tips against Larry?" Trent asked casually. The legacy of Venus seemed a little dazed for second, starting at the screen. He was blank for a moment, before realizing he was being asked a question.

"Sorry, what?" Howard asked, his voice sounding as if he had just fallen from the sky. He was blank again for a moment, before glancing off at someone, then back to me and Scott. "Oh, right. Larry, sorry. Uh, he's a heavy hitter, I guess. You wouldn't want to take him head on."

"Good, I'm not really the kind of guy to take heavy blows," Trent said. Someone had called for him, forcing him to go off and attend to that person. Howard looked back at Scott and I.

"You know our objective, right?" Howard asked, keeping his voice to a silent whisper. It was hard to hear him with everyone else in the room, but I could understand him, thankfully. "How we're supposed to observe and report?"

"Yeah," I said in a similar tone. Scott leaned in with his ear. "What about it?"

"I think some of them are here... recruiting people from the other camp," Howard theorized. He had a grim tone in his voice. But it made sense. The Order of Romulus had the power and resources to monitor individuals supporting the Golden Age Movement, but if their influence were to spread to Camp Half-blood... then they could grow in power, completely unchecked. "Keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

Scott and I nodded before the hourly bell rang. It was lights out time.

Even as I slept in my dorm with Ellen, I couldn't help but sleep with an eye open.

They were here. And in the worst-case scenario, they knew that I was part of the Order of Romulus, and they would find me.

And kill me.

I found myself standing outside of the arena. I was tired, having spent the night in fear and terror. I was in the waiting room, where competitors prepared for their match. Emily Rose was over on the other side of the room. She was outfitted in her own leather armor, the same one everyone wore for competitions. She seemed so calm, swinging around her sword, getting the right feel. I barely even moved my arms. My mind was still occupied about our current objectives. If Howard was right, which he usually was, then there were activists of the Golden Age movement. Uncle Marcus made it clear that it was not to become a revolution.

The cheers from outside roared. The victor must have been decided already. That meant Emily and I were up next. I was nervous, tired, and worried about the activists. For all I knew, Emily could've already been supporting them.

No. Now wasn't the time to focus on work. Now was the time to get ready for my match. I needed to get pumped for the match, but my mind was too preoccupied with everyone else. I was to face someone who was far more experienced than me and everyone would be watching. What would Dad think about this?

Another cheer exploded from the crowd. A door from my side of the room opened up. A door next to Emily did the same. It was time. There was no turning back. I had too far to back out now. The rest of the Legion back home was expecting me to do good and I couldn't disappoint them. I couldn't disappoint Dad.

Without looking back, I walked through the doorway. It took me down a winding hallway, which echoed the cheers of the audience waiting outside. The vibration grew louder with every step I took, until I was embraced by the archway of light. Apollo shone his domain on such a small, insignificant being. The crowd didn't think so. Their cheers were like that of avid sports fans, eager to see the sport be played. For most, their hunger for the sport drove competitors forward. For me, it made me only want to withdraw further. I remembered how Dad had gone out to his own execution in a setting very similar to mine. I prayed to Neptune and Mars that this would not be the occasion for me.

As soon as I had adjusted to the change in light, I realized I was standing in the arena. The sand beneath my boots reminded me of the sand in the Coliseum which I was able to stand in once. The combat exhibit was built in the shape of a circle, with tall, stone walls completely encircling me and my opponent - Emily Rose. She stood across at the opposite end, receiving recognition from her peers. She must have been pretty well known to have that many people cheering for her. I looked around and kept my ears open for my own fan-base, but I didn't get a lot of feedback. I did, however, notice Trent and Ellen watching me, even going as far as cheering for me. Where were Howard and Scott? As much as I wanted to find out, I couldn't. Uncle Jacob had already begun introducing the match.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Uncle Jacob began to speak over an intercom. The crowds responded with their cheers. I felt like I was shrinking where I stood. "For this next match, we get to experience the direct descendant of a living legend. From the West, came a great force, much like a goring bull. Now, his seed comes in the form of living hurricane. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you, from the Second Cohort, Katrina Charlotte Darrow!"

Now, most people would take this kind of approval and recognition with awe, but I felt... overwhelmed. The crowd cheered as loud as Jupiter's thunder. I stepped back, bumping into the wall of the arena. The door had closed, sealing my fate.

"And in the opposing corner... " Uncle Jacob continued. The frenzy in the crowds was still spreading. They longer cared for names and reputations, they wanted swords clashing, sparks flying. They wanted blood. Uncle Marcus had told me that if I wanted to be a gladiator, I would need to please the crowd, not with words, but with actions. If they wanted it, then it must be done. "... who had just overcome a renegade tribe of Laistrygonian Giants... "

But I wasn't a gladiator. I was a Legionnaire of the Second Cohort of the Twelfth Legion _Fulminata_. I was a little girl, trying to find her way in this big world. I wasn't ready.

"And now... " Uncle Jacob continued. The crowd began stamping their feet against the ground repeatedly. I was just about ready to go charging against Team Tornitruum right about now. Anything else than facing this crowd. But I was trapped. The only way was forward. "... let the match begin!"

A hammer struck a bell twice, initiating the match. Emily's once inviting and pretty approach immediately switched over to a much more aggressive, daring stance. I pulled out my own weapon. The old gladius, _Vicis_, used by Dad, and others before him. Its exact weight and size to the standard-issue weapon made the transition easy.

Emily and I circled each other for a bit, keeping our swords up and pointed at each other. I kept both hands on the handle, while she kept her free hand open. I waited, biding my time to strike, but she seemed to do the same. I tested her defenses by striking at one side. She parried my effort like she had practiced, which she did.

But now she was playing into my flourishes. I gauged for more direct attacks, forcing her foot work to reveal itself. She couldn't parry everything I threw at her, which was why she outright dodged some of them. But she stayed on the defensive, never throwing back an attack. I felt cocky, thinking that she didn't want to attack me. My confidence grew with each attack, each swipe of the sword. But that was when the tables started turning.

Emily turned her evasive efforts into attacks. She was lighter in her swings than what I was normally used to, but she was able to keep them going repeatedly. My defenses held for a little bit, before finally giving way. That was when she cut my left arm. It was just above my previous injury, which had just begun to disappear. Now there was a definite, red crescent arching above the old scar. I was upset. I had put so much effort into training, yet this daughter of Aphrodite was able to get the best of me.

Throwing away my defense, I went for the attack, almost leaping at her with high lunges of my blade. She parried the first couple, but when she noticed my blade was getting closer to breaking through her defenses, she went back to evasion. I hated it when I couldn't at least have my blade meet another's in combat, especially in a one-on-one scenario like this. But in my anger, I left my guard open, leaving me susceptible to being tripped, which Emily had exploited.

I was falling for what seemed forever. During my descent, I saw all eyes on me, on my failure. Time was irrelevant, and the biggest mistake was the identity of my existence at this point. I hit the ground, having the wind knocked out of me. Before I could even get up, I could feel her blade touching my exposed throat. She had me. I was finished.

"And the winner of this match is... Emily Rose!" Uncle Jacob announcing. The crowd exploded into cheer, but I didn't share their glee, I couldn't. I saw Trent's disappointed face. He was the only one cheering for me when no one else would. And I had let him down. My stomach turned, fearing this would be an incoming trend. Emily extended her hand to pull me up. She seemed like a good sportswoman, taking her victory without vanity.

"You did good," she tried to tell me over the roar of the crowd. In my current state, I was beyond comprehension of her attempts to make me feel better about my utter defeat. "Really, you did."

"Thanks," I muttered. I was beginning to tear up. Emily caught on to this and led me back to the waiting area, where the next two competitors were preparing for their upcoming match. One of them was a Centurion, from the Third Cohort, if I could remember correctly. The other was some Greek girl I had never met. From the corner of my eye, I saw two people enter the room.

"Hey, you two can't be in here!" Emily snapped at the two intruders. I looked over to see who it was. The collective looks on the two boys' faces told me that it was not good news. "You need to leave, now!"

"We understand," Howard said, trying to calm Emily. He came over, trying to assess the damage. "Is she all right?"

"Yeah, she's fine," Emily said, after sighing. "Just a cut on her left arm."

"I've got it," Scott volunteered. Howard and I were well aware of his medical abilities, so we declined his offer.

"Is there anyone else we can see?" Howard asked Emily. "Like a medic or something?"

"Yeah, I think there's a son of Apollo here," the girl said, trying to remember the name. "I think his name is Gary. Gary Hound."

"Gary Hound?" Scott said to himself. "I know him! He's my uncle."

"Oh, really?" Emily asked. "I think he's practicing over at the archery grounds."

"Fitting," Howard mused, helping me out of my chair. "Thanks. We'll take it from here."

"Uh, sure?" the daughter of Aphrodite uttered. The three of us were out of the room before she could protest.

While Howard helped me through the hallways, we discussed what had happened during my match.

"Where were you guys?" I asked them as we passed through the front lobby. Aunt Kori was was at the desk, working. She usually helped out at the boarding house when she could. I had never seen her husband, though, Ellen's Dad. But my parents had made me promise not to ask her about it, out of respect. Even Trent didn't know. So I left it at that.

"We did some looking around," Howard said. I could feel his voice vibrate through his chest. "And I think we may have a lead."

"The mission is still a go?" I asked, as we turned past another corner. Sure, there might be Golden Age Movement agents or assassins at the competitions as we spoke, but did we really have to be working on the investigation? Even during our time off? "We can't take a break?"

"We've finally got a lead," Howard replied, confirming my dread. "Its been a year since we were tasked wit this investigation and now we have a lead. This kind of opportunity doesn't come around very often."

"He's right," Scott added in, who was leading the way. "While we were busy running around dropping flags, they got bigger, more support. Pretty soon we won't have time for any breaks."

We came to a set of two large, wooden doors. Scott pushed them open for Howard and I to get through. The doorway we went through took us right to a large clearing, with several targets laying about at varying distances. I saw a man talking to a teenage girl.

She had a kind of glow to her, which was kind of weird, even in my experiences as a demigod. She wore a light-silver coat and similarly colored pants and boots. Her black hair, even with its glow, contrasted the entirety of her appearance. On her back was a quivered, strapped with the same color scheme.

The man, on the other hand, was taller, with short light-brown hair. He wore sunglasses, concealing his true expression as he argued with the glowing teen. In his hands was a crossbow. His quiver was strapped to his thigh, for easy access. He had a surfer guy kind of appeal to him, even if I had never met him, formally, at least.

"... I'm telling you, Samara," the surfer man argued. "There's no way you can shred the side of a card with an arrow. It can barely be done with a regular firearm!"

"Now, Hound," the girl, who must have been Samara, replied, pulling out her bow. She retrieved an arrow from her quiver with fox-like dexterity. As young as she was, she must have spent years of hard work and dedication to do that. "You think with only the possibilities of a talentless boy. You forget how true Lady Artemis' aim really is. She is, after all, the goddess of the hunt."

"Whatever," surfer man said, trying to blow off her insults. "All I'm saying is, even a Huntress of Artemis can't make a shot like that, even at 100 yards with 20 mile per hour winds. Tell you what, you make it, I'll go easy on you when it comes time for the arena."

Without another word, Samara released her grip on the arrow, sending it in an almost straight line through open Kansas, just right over a fence post... 100 yards away. The man was speechless for a moment. Samara withdrew her bow back to her quiver. Which vanished into thin air afterward. What in Pluto was going on?

"Uncle Gary!" Scott greeted, running over. The man, who I had just found out was Gary Hound, cocked his head back a few degrees to see which nephew of his was running over to him. The two met each other with a friendly uncle-nephew hug. Samara gave a look of disgust. Howard and I soon met up with the three. "Its been awhile since you last visit."

"You bet it has, kiddo," the son of Apollo agreed. For someone his age, he seemed very... young at heart. Samara, who was still standing off to the side crossed her arms. "Who are these people, Scott?"

"Oh, right," the Legionnaire stumbled, scratching the back of his head. "This is Katrina Darrow- "

"Lucius' daughter," Gary interrupted. "I've been wondering whether or not he left some kind of legacy behind. Nice to meet you, I'm Gary, Gary Hound, son of Apollo. But you can call me Uncle Gary."

"But... you're not... my uncle," I muttered. He wasn't. I didn't even know why he would want someone like me to call him that. "That's kind of weird."

"You are kind of weird, Hound," Samara added in from her distant spot.

"... and this is Howard Amos," Scott introduced the Centurion.

"Its a pleasure, Mr. Hound," Howard greeted. "My father has told me many things about you."

"Well, considering I've never met him, I'm not sure if I should feel good or bad," Gary said before bursting into laughter. Samara rolled her eyes. "But don't call me Mr. Hound, it makes me feel old. Oh, right. Kids, this is Ms. Samara Law. She's a Huntress... of Artemis, Apollo's lesser twin sister."

"If there weren't any witnesses, Hound... " Samara the Huntress began to say. "I would make you eat those words."

"Now, now," Gary pleaded, trying to calm her. "Lets not let Mommy-Nemesis get to our heads, okay?"

"Hmph," the Huntress grunted. She crossed her arms again before leaning to the side. "Was there something you children needed?"

"You're hardly older than us," Scott argued. Samara glared at him with her deep-blue eyes.

"I may look a couple of years older than you," she began to say. "But I will be 32 next month."

"What?" Scott asked, completely dumbfounded. Even Howard and I were a little confused by what she meant.

"Oh, you don't know?" she asked innocently. "The Huntresses of Artemis are granted immortality. I joined when your parents were your age. And that is how I came to look like this, which brings me back to my initial question - was there something you children needed from us?"

"She's got a point," Gary shrugged.

"Its Katrina, sir," Howard answered, showing him my arm. It wasn't as bad as last time, but it still required some medical attention. Thankfully, Scott wouldn't be working at it, like last time. "She needs medical attention, and we were told you could help."

"... and I didn't do so well last time," Scott added in, his voice filled with guilt.

"Sure, just step over here and we can- " Gary began to say, before Samara stepped in between them.

"Not so fast, Hound," the Huntress interrupted. "I won the bet. Let me take care of the girl's injury."

"Sure, just... hurry," I began to say. I was starting to feel a little lightheaded. It wasn't so much the cut that was doing this to me, but the humiliation of losing. It felt sickening to lose in front of everyone.

"Right this way, my dear," Samara said invitingly.

"Just say no!" Gary shouted as the Huntress guided me away.

She gave the others a mean look before she summoned... a tent. Like her clothe, the tent had the same glowing-silver theme going. Inside was an impressive set of stuffed animal heads. Even the floor of the tent was layered with fur rugs. It was big enough to house at least four people. The powers of Diana were something of their own nature!

"Did you hunt all of these animals yourself?" I asked, trying to count the heads. A head of a black bull seemed to stare at me eerily from a dark corner. Its red eyes looked like it had lived a life of anger, but for some reason, it reminded me of Dad's red eyes. But his were full of warmth. Familiarity. This animal had been dead and so was Dad.

"Yes, I've spent the last 15 or so years in service to Lady Artemis," Samara said as she went to go dig through an old bag. After scuffling through it, she pulled out some jars and medical supplies. In the next couple of moments, she went to work on my injuries. "You know, the Huntresses are always looking for new recruits."

I thought back on Gary's warning. Being a Huntress sounded like a really cool opportunity. But something made me feel a little unsure about it.

"You mean I could be a Huntress?" I asked. I was curious, not so much cautious, but very curious. "What's the catch?"

"Oh... just no boys... forever," Samara said like it was nothing. Now, I was just 12 years old, and boys weren't exactly my priority at the time, but that didn't mean I never wanted to have that experience. It seemed a little unfair. "But I can sense your hesitation. So, I'll just leave this with you, in case you decide to change your mind."

She handed me a brochure, titled _Join the Huntresses Today: Immortality is Just an Oath Away!_ I didn't actually look through it, since I had just come to get my wound treated, so I put it in my pocket. Still, if I had the powers of a Huntress, I would be unstoppable in battle. I would be able to show Emily who's boss. The idea of winning raised my hopes, but at the same time, I would be shutting away part of my life that I had never even experienced yet.

"Uh, thanks," I said, as Samara finished up the first aid. The wound was already closing up, looking no more than just a small scar. "Wow, that was fast."

"This power could be yours, Katrina," Samara explained. "But in the meantime, think about it. I'll be here until the end of the tournament."

"Where will you be going afterward?" I asked, walking towards the exit of the tent.

"Back on the hunt, my dear," she said playfully. "Now, run along, there's a certain son of Apollo I need to humiliate until my next match."

Howard, Trent, and I navigated through the open field. Crowds of demigods populated the immediate area, conversing with one another and such. Most of the social interactions took place behind the outdoor arena. There was a good enough view on the action that the matches provided. Scott had to go prepare for his upcoming match again Wyatt, his cousin. From what I had remembered, it seemed like Scott did not look forward to facing the tall [i]_graceus_[/i]. I was glad to have my match out of the way. But as Trent and Howard had reminded me, the first part of the tournament was a double-elimination scenario, meaning I would have to lose twice before being eliminated. It was bitter-sweet. Sure, I wanted to be able to make up for my embarrassing defeat against Emily, but I was afraid to go back out there again.

"How did you do Trent?" I asked, trying to get my mind off of my loss.

"I lost," he said, shrugging. "You were right, Howard. Hank is a heavy-hitter."

"That's okay," I said, trying to reassure him. "Hank's one of the best guys in the Second Cohort. Next to Howard, of course."

"I think Hank is good," the Centurion said, trying to play off my compliment.

Just then, I heard someone come at us. She was blond-haired girl, with very dark-colored eyes. She was pretty, that was for sure. She kind of reminded me of a girl who was supposed to be in the First Cohort, Brynn Wood, who was a daughter of Venus. Strangely enough, Brynn was also blonde, if I remembered correctly. I began to develop an idea as to who she was.

"Hey, Trent!" she said, running in, smiling. Trent froze where he stood. I could see sweat coming off of his forehead. "How did you do?"

"Uh, hi, Lalya," he said, nervously. Howard and I exchanged looks. "I, er, I l-lost."

"That's too bad," she said, before turning her attention to Howard and myself. "You're Katrina, right?"

"Me? Yeah, that's me," I nodded. I was a little surprised that she was able to recognize me, godly parentage and lineages aside, I had no idea in all of Tartarus who this girl was. But it was nice that she was able to recognize me. "Um, do I know you from somewhere?"

"I'm Lalya Lobo," she introduced herself. Howard's attention drifted off a bit, glancing off to the side occasionally "My parents and I were at your Dad's funeral pyre last year. My Dad, Nick, talked about him a little."

"Nick, as in Nicholas Lobo?" I asked. I think I remembered Dad talking about him in his recordings. "I think I've heard of him. My name is Katrina."

"Howard," the distracted Centurion greeted.

"Well, he teaches a monster class back at camp," she said. She looked at my shirt. "Camp Half-blood, that is. So, hey, Trent, Lily and Cam wanted to hang out, would you be up for that?"

"Well, I, er, I can't just leave my cousin behind," he said, trying to justify himself. It was kind of cute when he got nervous like that.

"Actually, its fine, Trent," Howard said. "Katrina and I actually needed to... run a couple of errands."

"Oh... okay," Trent said, before Layla dragged him off.

"It was nice talking to you, Katrina!" the girl parted. Her grip on Trent soon released when something else had caught her attention. Running over to a nearby a trash can, she tugged on a black-dog-thing. It was huge, as big as a minivan. "[i]_Diablo_[/i], don't go through the trash. Its disgusting!"

Now, I had seen things in my two years experience of being a professional demigod, but this was one for the books. I think that big dog was called a hellhound. Anyway, I could now say that I had the pleasure of witnessing a hellhound dig through a trash can. Only in the Legion, as they would say.

Howard guided me through the crowds, explaining why we couldn't go hang out with the garbage-loving hellhound. By now, I kind of figured that Howard was a no-nonsense kind of guy. Even if his match was supposed to be in an hour, he was taking his job seriously. Me, I was enjoying the summer, which was my only time off from the Legion.

"Scott and I did some asking around during your match," Howard explained, as we brushed past a girl with a very hateful expression. "We may have a lead. Or at least someone who knows about the Golden Age Movement."

"Who is it?" I asked, as we both stopped at a vending machine. Howard glanced over to where two dark, gaunt boys were standing. They were talking to an older guy, who wasn't as tall as them, but definitely beat them in age. Something was very familiar about the two boys. They looked so identical, alike. As if they were twins.

"The large one," Howard identified. I looked back over to the three people talking. There two large ones, two, in fact.

"Which one?" I asked, still not getting who he was trying to pick out.

"The really big one," Howard clarified. I try scanning the area with the three guys talking. "The one that looks like he could lift a car."

My eyes darted from guy to guy in that particular area. Then I saw who Howard was talking about. He was large kid, with huge height, like he was a giant's baby or something. He had huge, developed arms and a very focused, grim look on his face. Unlike the other three guys, he was not partaking in the discussion. He seemed distracted, like Howard was, especially when the guy was looking right us.

"He's a Greek," Howard summed, referring to his orange t-shirt, the staple of Camp Half-blood, home to the Greek demigods, like Trent. "Which makes things worse."

"Why?" I asked, trying to the see bigger picture.

"That means the movement is spreading between camps," Howard said, his expression very grave. I thought about it for a second. The movement had started in New Rome, Camp Jupiter, which was just a little over a year ago. My gods. Someone really could get a lot of support in a year! Things had just taken a turn for the worse, it seemed. Uncle Marcus was not going to be happy about this. "But something tells me he's not working alone. He couldn't have, at least. I mean, it did start in New Rome, right?"

"Right," I confirmed, nodding.

"So he's got to have a contact from within New Rome," Howard deduced. "They might even be here. They'd have to be. Its the perfect place to gain support."

"So we should keep our eyes open," I suggested. "Maybe Trent knows something about him. Let's split up. You look for Trent. I'll see if I can talk to some other people from the Legion. We'll meet back up before dinner."

"Got it, good hunting," I said playfully.

"Thanks," he said. Before he headed on his way, he turned back and to tell me something. "And Katrina."

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

"Aren't I always?"

"No, you're not. Not ever, really."

"Just go."

Then I saw something that I thought I wouldn't see until a very long time - Howard's smile. It was almost more uncommon than a hellhound digging through garbage. Wow, bad analogy. He had already embedded himself in the crowd before I let him know of my amazing discovery. I looked back at the four guys, one of whom had just become a person of interest. He was gone, and so was the other older guy, leaving just the dark twins. I swore I knew I had met them from somewhere. But as much as I wanted to pursue my gut feeling, I knew I shouldn't disregard a direct order from a superior.

I headed over to back where Layla had abducted Trent. After asking around a bit, I was directed to an open field with little to no people around. There were however, a huge black dog, a hellhound, the same one, running around, chasing ... a frisbee. The huge animal bounded for it, like the world was at stake. Slobber and drool flung through the air as it pursued its prey. I saw Trent trying to outrun the minivan-sized monster. He put up a challenge, in all his Hermes lineage. As soon as the wind veered the flow the red phantom, he changed course on a dime, [i]_Diablo_[/i], not so much. The hellhound was about to slam right into a collection of port-a-potties, but was stopped right in its tracks. A long trail of unearthed dirt showed that something powerful had stopped the dog.

"Cam, you alright?" Trent asked, running over to the hellhound which was just a second away from creating a huge mess. _Diablo_ got up and went back to what had stopped him. A small boy laid there, almost embedded in the ground.

"Yeah, I think so," the boy struggled to say. From where I stood, he looked alright, except for the fact that he was smashed into the ground, but other than that, he looked okay. He sounded terrible, though. I ran over as soon as the other kids did, who were trying to get their friend out of the ground. I was surprised he wasn't dead from the impact. After a couple of tugs, we all managed to get him out of the ground. "Thanks, guys. I guess I shouldn't have tried to stop _Diablo_. By the way, who's the girl?"

"That's Katrina Darrow," Layla said, introducing me to the boy. He had straight, jet-black hair. His small, dark eyes gave off the same friendliness as his smile did. "She's Lucius' daughter. You know, the ambassador guy."

"Oh, I remember him," the boy said, smiling. He must have been at least a year younger than me. He extended his hand, offering me a handshake, to which I complied. "My name is Cameron Smith, but everyone calls me Cam."

"Nice to meet you, Cam," I said, smiling. "Do you guys mind if I borrow Trent for a second?"

Before anyone could object, I grabbed him and we both walked off, heading the stands. We found a seat that had a view of the fight going. I noticed Scott, running around, trying to keep some distance from his opponent. That just happened to be his cousin, Wyatt, who kept jabbing at the First Cohort Legionnaire with his trident. Being a legacy of Neptune, I was a little jealous that I hadn't thought of using that kind of weapon during my match. It would've helped.

"So... what did you want to talk about?" Trent asked, drumming his hands on his knees. His ADHD must've been acting up again. He usually go through bouts where he is unable to focus, more so than any regular demigod. It was something he picked up from his dad, Uncle Jacob. Unfortunately, since they both have the same problem, Aunt Erin was usually driven nuts. Luckily, she had Aunt Kori and Ellen to get away to. "Sorry, its kicking in again."

"That's okay," I said, dismissing the problem his disorder created. "I wanted to ask if you could identify someone. He goes to Camp Half-blood."

"A lot of people go to Camp Half-blood," Trent remarked sarcastically. "Do you know what cabin he's in?"

"No, I don't," I admitted. Other than his face and his physical appearance, which was frightening, I knew just about nothing about him. "But he's big, like really tall, and really buff-looking. I think he's older, too."

"I think I know someone like that," Trent said, trying to think of who I was trying to describe. "There's this one guy in the Hermes Cabin, where I stay. His name is Harkin, just Harkin. He's an unclaimed demigod. At least, I don't think he's any kind of legacy. Some kind of orphan or something. He's supposed to be like 18. Kind of old, if you ask me."

Harkin, the 18 year old that stayed at the Hermes Cabin at Camp Half-blood. For I some reason, I couldn't but doubt that he was the source of the Golden Age Movement. It just didn't add up. He was old enough to be a leader to some, but he was Greek, all the way on the other side of the country. He needed someone to spread the word in Camp Jupiter. That would need to be the next lead. Howard was taking care of that. I thought about how Harkin would be able to gain support for his cause. Dad had told me about the war before the one he and Mom fought in. The Titan Lord, Saturn, or as the Greeks knew him, Saturn, got a lot of support from demigods whose parents were not part of Camp Half-blood's main deities. What if Harkin wasn't the head of the movement, was merely an outlet? He would have a lot of support from demigods who never got claimed. It began to make sense, but I would have to check back with Howard and Scott with this.

Just then, Scott got pinned to the ground, his neck being held down by Wyatt's trident. The spaces between spike were enough to trap the Legionnaire's thin neck. There was no way he would be able to get out of that, so the judges ended the match, with Wyatt winning. That left zero and two for the Order of Romulus. Maybe Uncle Marcus was right, maybe we really were absolute disgraces. I knew Dad wouldn't be happy with more performance in this tournament. But I still had another match. Hopefully, Howard would fare better than Scott and I.

After a couple of matches, Trent had to go help his mom with some stuff, leaving me to my seat. Scott soon replaced the empty spot next to me.

"Dang it," Scott cursed, plopping onto the seat. He looked like a mess, his hair and body sweaty from intense demigod-on-demigod combat. He was also panting. "You'd think that after all of our training, [i]_we_[/i] would be able to get some wins. Maybe the Second Cohort's most promising might scratch up a win for us. Speaking of which, where did he go?"

"He's talking to some of the competitors that came with us from the Legion," I answered.

"Nice, did you manage to dig up anything?" Scott asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "I think I may know who's in charge of the movement over at Camp Half-blood. His name is Harkin. I think he's rallying unclaimed demigods, like in the old Titan War."

"That makes sense," Scott said, nodding. "Howard will want to hear about this. I think I might know someone who might be part of the movement in the Legion."

"Really?" I asked. It was something, at least. After a year of going nowhere, we might have actually had a lead. "Who did you have in mind?"

"The Fourth Cohort," Scott explained. "There's a couple of people that rub off the wrong kind of way. Cain Alvarez. His dad was a traitor to the Legion in the old war, but he made up for it. His dad served in the Second, like yours. Then there's the Coll twins, Devin and Dwayne. Something is shady about them."

Twins. Twins from Team Tornitruum. They must have been the ones that kicked me off of the battlement [i]_and_[/i] the ones who were standing by Harkin when they were talking to some older guy. I was beginning to feel Scott's discomfort with the twins. They were shady, and not because they looked dark-intentioned, but because they were associating themselves with Harkin.

"Howard is going to love this," I commented. Just then, the cheering of the crowds rose as the next two competitors came forward.

"Speak of the Muses!" Scott said, standing up. "There's our faithful Centurion now!"

I looked down to the center of the arena, and sure enough, there was Howard. He was wearing a heavier variant of the leather armor that competitors wore. In his right hand was his spear, but he had his gladius sheathed to his side. Howard usually went with the traditional armament. His opponent, wore little to no armor over his purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt. But that's not what caught my eye about him.

It was because he was the guy who was talking to Devin and Dwayne Coll.

"Scott, do you know who this guy is?" I asked. My internal alarms were ringing. Something was not right about this guy. In the next second, the match began. Howard moved in with a swift offense. The other guy simply leaned out of the way, like he was just slipping by someone in a narrow hallway.

"His name is... Evan... Evan Pravus," Scott said, after digging through his memory. "He's a Centurion of the Fifth Cohort, I think. Tries to model himself after the old heroes from his Cohort, like Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Michael Varus, Jackson, and others. Why, what did you want to know about him?"

"Nothing," I dismissed.

Evan moved with unmatched speed. Howard did his best to keep up the attack, but against this guy, it was hopeless. But Evan's attitude seemed a bit off. It was like he wasn't in combat, like this was some kind of joke. Before even a minute had gone by, Evan took the attack, knocking down Howard right onto his back. The silence from everyone indicated that the match was over. I took part of the collective shock. Howard struggled to get up on his feet. Since the loss during the last War Game, I knew he wasn't in the mood to lose again, but this was just adding insult to injury. From the look on Howard's face, I knew he was not a happy camper.

Things were already looking so bright and shiny heading into the next round.

After another loss, I was eliminated from the competition. By then, I was really disappointed in myself, with no wins and two losses. I didn't even make it into the second event. Instead, I had to stay until the entire competition went through. The losses were just mounting, with the War Game, the investigation, and now this. But I kept falling back to what had happened just a little over a year ago. I was in a rut and I hated every second of it.

But maybe there was still as a chance to follow up on a real lead for once. It had been almost a week staying in the middle of Kansas. The third, which was also the last, was almost done. There was only one match left, the last showdown between Gary Hound and Samara Law. For Gary, it was his last tournament before he would reach the one hundred limit. After that, he would no longer be allowed to compete, which gave people like Howard a better shot at winning later on. I still found it strange for a 30 year old man and an immortal Huntress to take the time to beat around kids like this. It was one of those things as a demigod I would never understand.

I looked at the brackets of the last event, an eight-contest single-elimination tournament. Six others had been eliminated, two of which were Harkin and Evan Pravus. It didn't surprise me that they made it so far, given their age. It was just other things about them that raised a flag or two. Somehow, I felt there was a connection between the two, I just knew it.

Just then, I felt a cold shiver take over my body. I looked over to my side, and saw him - Evan Pravus, standing right next to me, looking right at the brackets, particularly his own name.

"Who's idea was it to let this old guy, Gary Hound, compete with the rest of us kids?" Evan asked himself aloud. He didn't even look at me when he said it, so I tried to act like I didn't hear him. That was until he turned his head towards me. "Hey, you're Lucius' daughter, right?"

"Uh... yeah," I said nervously, trying not to make eye contact. I felt uncomfortable with this guy around. I don't what it was, but it just felt wrong to be around him.

"Oh, sorry, how rude of me," he apologized, before extending his hand. I hesitated before shaking it. His grip was strong, which after Howard getting knocked right to his back in less than a minute, only confirmed my estimation of his strength. "My name is Evan Pravus. I'm a Centurion of the Fifth Cohort, kind of like your friend, Howard. Oh, sorry. I'm coming off a bit obnoxious aren't I?"

"I guess... " I said, continuing my nervous tone. Evan titled his head, like he had picked up on it.

"I just wanted to say, I admire your father's work," Evan continued. It sounded like genuine admiration, which made me feel just a little more uncomfortable. Was Dad really this famous? "These little summer competitions, these games, they aren't what keep the Greeks and the Romans together. It was men like your father, Ambassador Darrow."

"Thanks," I said, with a little more enthusiasm. I felt a little trapped all by myself with this guy.

"Its times like these where we need people like him," he said a little sadly, as if he missed my Dad. "Cause once the games are all said and done, its back to staring contests from one camp to the next. This peace between the Greeks and Romans won't last, if you ask me. Which is why I could use some like you. Imagine, the ambassador's daughter. You know you're quite the bridge-builder yourself- "

Just then, I heard Howard call my name out from a distance. Evan and I both looked over to see him and Scott walking over to us.

"Katrina, the final match is about to start!" Howard said, a little excitement in his voice. Scott also seem pretty stoked as well, "What are you- oh. Hey, Evan."

"Howard, Scott," Evan greeted nodding at them both. I was shocked that he knew both of them. He must have been more popular than I thought. Still, I kept my suspicions about him. "I'll leave you in the hands of these two fine gentlemen. Think about what I said, _Katrina_."

And like that, he left us three, walking off into the crowds. I didn't even say a word until we found a seat in the stands. We watched the final encounter between Gary and Samara. Gary liked to use his crossbow, which Scott thought was pretty cool. Samara stuck to her bow, which she had amazing control over. I had seen their first two matches against each other, which were pretty intense. In their first encounter, Samara had beat Gary in the last couple of seconds of the match. In the second match, the time ran out before any winner could be determined. Luckily, there were ties allowed for the second part of the tournament. Now, with the anticipation and expectations from supporters of both competitors, demigods, orphans, and competitors alike were fighting to get seats to watch an awesome showdown.

During the match, Howard, Scott, and I talked about the different leads we had come up with.

"I'm telling you, Howard," the red-haired Legionnaire argued. "Cain Alvarez is connected to this somehow. I just know he is."

"And I'm telling you that it can't be," Howard protested. I had a neutral standing on Cain. I wasn't sure if he really was part of the movement or not. It could go either way for him, in my opinion. "Just because his father fought for Terra in the last war, doesn't mean anything. Nero Alvarez was pardoned. There would be no reason for him to hold a grudge."

"But his father was in the Second Cohort," Scott said. "And they didn't want him. The Fourth Cohort barely took him in. I'm surprise he didn't end up in the Fifth."

"I'm still saying no on Cain," Howard said, ending the matter. He looked to me. "What about you, Katrina? What did you dig up on Harkin?"

I cleared my throat. I knew Harkin was somehow involved, but I also knew that he wasn't the mastermind. It just didn't suit him.

"He stays in the Hermes Cabin, at Camp Half-blood," I began to explain. "He might be rallying support from unclaimed demigods. All I know about him personally is his name - Harkin. His parentage is unknown. And nobody really has any idea on what it might be."

"That might explain why the movement is spreading to Camp Half-blood," Howard said, rubbing his chin. "But that doesn't really lead us back to the guy leading this whole thing."

"I think I might know," I said. For almost a week, I had a gut feeling that Evan was deeply involved in the movement. "Centurion Evan Pravus, from the Fifth Cohort."

"Seriously, now is not time for jokes, Katrina," Howard said, his face in total disbelief. Even Scott looked a little baffled. "There's no way he could be behind this. The Coll's are more likely to be leading it than him."

"I'm serious, its gotta be him," I said, beginning to sound a little desperate. "I mean, he was talking about all of this change and bad stuff between the Greeks and Romans. It sounds like he knows what's going to happen!"

"_Bad stuff,_ right," Howard said, almost laughing a little. Under normal circumstances, I would've been so happy to see him laugh for once. He was always so serious and uptight. But this was just sealing my fate. "Katrina, look at your cousins - Gwen and Joanna Peake or Javier Beas. They're hybrids, half-Roman and half-Greek. Do you really think we're going to kill each other in a civil war anytime soon? Besides, I know for a fact that it can't be Evan."

"Well why is that?" I asked with a little frustration. Neither of them were believing me, making everything worse. "Why can't it be him."

"Because he's part of the Order, Katrina," Howard said, throwing my theory right out of the window. Just then, Samara rolled to the side, avoiding Gary's bolt. "He operates in a different cell. We're supposed to keep little to no contact between each other. How do you think he was able recognize us all?"

"Not only that," Scott interrupted. "But the first people to be investigated were the Centurions. It only made sense to start with them."

Now I was the crazy person. And just in time, too - Gary had just defeated Samara, making him the official champion.

Later that night, I wanted to cry in frustration. I was upset for a lot of things, like Howard and Scott not believing me, or even losing in the first two rounds of the first-third of the tournament. It was embarrassing to see myself ranked 29th our of 32. So much for the hot-shot that lost the last War Game, which only made me more upset.

I laid in bed, still upset. It was quiet in Ellen's room, until my satchel - Dad's satchel made a beeping noise, before letting off a faint light. Curious, I got out of bed, carefully tip-toeing my way to the bag on the floor. I didn't want to wake up Ellen. She would never let me live it down. I open up the satchel, and saw one of Dad's video scrolls blinking. It was the next one in the series, marked with a distinctive Roman numeral two. And just like that, the seal on it unlatched.

Was this really happening? Would I really be able to see Dad again?

Without a second thought, I took the scroll to bed, starting with the first recording. I was eager to see his 33rd message to me.

I opened up the scroll and pressed play. It was only a year, and I was already feeling the excitement about seeing Dad again. Just like before, the recording was black, before showing Dad's face.

**Hey there, kiddo. How's everything going?**

Hey, Dad. I'm not doing too well.

**You'll have to tell me about it sometime.**

I want to, I really do. There's all of these things going on, so many things that I'm messing up. I just don't know what to do. I'm frustrated and upset.

**I wanted to impart some knowledge to you that a rival of mine used to tell me. I know I may sound boring giving you all this advice and stuff, but I think its important that you get this, especially if I'm not there.**

No, go ahead, Dad. Please continue.

**A real warrior doesn't dash off in pursuit of the next victory, nor throw a fit when experiencing a loss.**

That's great Dad, but I'm already doing what you don't want me to. I don't want to lose anymore. Especially after you left. Every time I lose it reminds me of that day. And I hate that feeling more than anything. What am I supposed to do?

**A real warrior ponders the next battle.**

What do you mean? How am I supposed to ponder the next battle?

**You're supposed to learn from your mistakes. Emphasize on your strengths and bolster your weaknesses. This doesn't just apply to a battle. This applies to everything. You need to look at your situation in a forward-moving direction. I mean, what would it be like if the world just decided to stop spinning everyday just because it ran into a little trouble.**

But its not just a little trouble. I'm screwing up everything! Everyone holds me to your standard and I just can't meet that expectation!

**You're my child. And I know you're capable of so much. I believe in you. Even when you don't. So if you got a problem, you deal with it, because I know you can.**

B-but... you're right.

**So go out there and knock 'em dead. You can do it. End log 033.**

Thanks, Dad. I'll try to keep that in mind. And I'm sorry I've been doubting myself. I shouldn't let this get the best of me. I love you, Dad.

**Hey, what's going on? I just saw your mother today and she had big news. You're on your way!**

Oh. Gods. No.

**But that's not what I'm here to talk about. I wanted to tell you about a little incident that had recently occurred. It all started in the city of New Rome...**


	5. Chapter 4: A Separate Peace

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is told from the third-person POV of Lucius Darrow. Personally, I hated this chapter. It doesn't really contribute to the overall story of this fanfiction.

**Chapter IV: A Separate Peace**

**Lucius panted as he and Clancy chased their target down the alleyways of New Rome.** It had been a couple of years of investigating, pulling up old resources, and a little help of Amos, but now the killer of Martin del Sol was in complete flight. It had been more than three years into this manhunt. It was strange, that once the people who would be at each other's throats would be pursuing the same target. But the chase was a little more one-sided. Lucius, not fueled by revenge, but by promise, did what he could to keep up. Many restless nights and thorough investigations had brought them to this point. Now, it was all coming to an end.

"He's getting away!" Clancy barked, keeping at his top-speed. The tall red-headed son of Apollo did not let up chasing the killer. Lucius realized that they were not going to beat this man in a foot race, so he came up with an idea. Veering off to the side, the son of Mars cut through an alleyway. "Darrow! Where in Tartarus do you think you're going?"

"I'm gonna try to cut him off!" Lucius said before entering the backdoor of a cafe. From what he remembered about this place, this was Reyna's preferred place. It brought back memories of the old days, before losing bachelorship. The thought of making a safer city for his family was enough for him to keep moving.

Exiting through the front door, Lucius dashed across the street, in front of the building the killer had gone around. He almost got hit a couple of times, when crossing the street. New Rome's bustling streets were often a safety hazard to pedestrians. Lucius' mentor and friend, William Amos had lost his parents in a traffic accident at just 11 years old. Lucius promised himself that he wouldn't go down on the streets of New Rome. That much was for sure.

Eventually, Lucius was back on the radar. Unfortunately, the runner had no idea what was coming. From right behind a corner, the son of Mars emerged, tackling the man to the wall. The force alone was enough to subdue, but Lucius stayed on top of him just to be sure. Clancy soon came to the scene, pushing the son of Mars aside. He then grabbed the killer by the collar of his shirt. Lucius was stunned by what he was seeing, so much that he couldn't act.

"You like killing defenseless, old men, huh?" Clancy demanded, shaking the runner. Before he could even answer, Clancy was throwing in punches. The whole thing reminded Lucius of an incident he had two years ago at Camp Half-blood with a certain son of Hades. But this was a whole new level of malice. Lucius decided to intervene, catching Clancy's arm before he could another swing in. "What are you doing, Darrow? Let go of me! This piece of trash deserves to pay for what he's done."

"That's enough, Clancy," Lucius said, keeping his voice calm, but loud enough to show that he was serious. He had seen too much death and destruction. And it wasn't just from the war, but with his own life. If he had the opportunity to change that, then by gods, he would. And that opportunity was now. "Killing him doesn't make a difference. Revenge won't bring Martin back."

"He took away the only real family I had!" Clancy argued, his hand still firmly gripped on the man's collar. "There's only one way this ends for people like him."

"Not like this!" Lucius protested. "We are Romans, a people of laws! We cannot sentence justice as we see fit. This isn't some sort of anarchy!"

"He should have thought of that before he took Martin's life!" Clancy said, gritting his teeth. Lucius felt a little helpless in this scenario. He couldn't convince him to stop. But he had to. "It ends with him dead!"

"Think about it, Clancy," Lucius cautioned. "Is this how Martin would want to remember you?"

"The Del Sol legacy lives through _me!_" Clancy reasoned. "My blood!"

"Then think about your wife, Leia," Lucius said, trying to appeal to Clancy's family life. "She is as much as family as Martin was. Don't ruin what you already have. Not for something you used to have."

Clancy glared right into the killer's eyes for a moment. He exhaled through his nostrils. When Lucius felt his arm loosen, he let go of it. Now, he left his trust in Clancy's control. The son of Apollo got in another shove before letting go of him.

"You will live out the rest of your days in fear, worm," Clancy threatened. "Only because I'm letting you go."

The killer was then freed. He began to walk away before suddenly stopping. He then turned to face the two demigods.

"Your chase was for nothing, you know," the killer said. Clancy's head snapped to attention. Lucius could feel his rage emanating off of him. "The _real_ killer is sill out there, sitting and laughing at the amount of time you two have wasted. You have no idea what is to be unleashed on your world."

But just as Clancy had gone after him, Lucius not far behind, the killer had walked backwards right into the street. Neither Clancy nor Lucius ever saw what happened to his body when the vehicle made impact.

Lucius gasped as he woke from his sleep. He laid in bed, sweaty and shivering from his dreams. He had been suffering from a ruse of dreams recently. But he did his best not to let it show, especially to his wife, whose arm was comfortably around his waist. It was an anchor, to keep him at bay. Their marriage of just a month short of two years had been... something. As a kid, he never imagined he would be married to the girl next door. But it was a hope that he might be able to live a normal life. Lucius soon found himself looking straight up at the ceiling of their bedroom. Carolina's motion indicated that she had awoken.

"The dreams again?" she asked, her voice hoarse from just waking up. The two demigods were very much in sync with each other. It was hard for Lucius to hide something from her, because she almost had the innate ability of just knowing what it was. The same applied to Carolina. Lucius guessed that was what happened when two people spent most of their lives together. "Was it about the killer?"

"Yeah," Lucius, his voice soft, seeing as they were both very tired. With his half-brother locked in the elections for Praetor, it was up to Lucius to assume the role of Centurion in his stead. It was an incredible task to take up, but he was honor-bound. He would have to follow through with his promises. _Mrs. Darrow_, on the other hand, managed the horses at _Circus Maximus_. It wasn't anything strenuous, just something to keep the daughter of Neptune busy while her husband served out the rest of his minimum service years. "I don't know why they keep coming back."

"Maybe there was something that was supposed to be done," she suggested, digging her face into his arm. Unfortunately for the wife, Lucius had kept her up most nights, as well. "Maybe you should go down to the clinic, and get it checked out."

A couple of months ago, Clancy had taken a job over at a local clinic. He was still a registered soldier, but he was stationed there to do what he did best - the practice of medicine. From what Lucius had heard, the son of Apollo had gifted hands. The again, with everything that had gone on between them, it probably wasn't the best to go there. Then again, Lucius didn't want to see his wife and lover suffer from something that could possibly be taken of sooner rather than later.

"Alright, I'll- " Lucius was about to say, before he heard the light snores of Carolina. Even sharks had their midnight tunes. It was kind of cute the way she slept, her face buried in her hair. It reminded him of their time as kids, when things were... _less complicated_. "I guess I'll go get it checked out tomorrow... good night."

And with that, Lucius tired once more to go back to sleep.

Lucius found himself sitting amongst New Rome and the Legion's administration. His status as Centurion may have only been temporary, but he was required to go to this meeting. The son of Mars went back to his mental scoreboard he kept against his friend and rival, Abbey Gordon, a daughter of Minerva. Both of them had aspired to best the other. Fortunately for Lucius, he had just beat her to achieving that goal. Lucius - one. Abbey - zero.

But just as he was beginning to enjoy his spot in the Senate House all by himself, he was soon joined by his half-brother, Marcus North, also a son of Mars. For awhile, Marcus had been Lucius' superior _de jure_, but were more as equals _de facto_. No power was greater than the combined efforts of the two sons of Mars, except the gods, of course. But even then, they were a force to be reckoned when combined.

"Brother," Marcus greeted, before taking a seat next to him. Lucius, unlike Marcus, wasn't really into politics. He had taken the position as a promise, because Marcus wanted someone he could trust in his place when he ran for Praetor. Election season was already halfway in, where the people were coming down to just a small handful of candidates that they hoped would lead their Senate, Legion, and city. Centurion may have been an undertaking of its own, but the title of Praetor alone was enough to weed out those unfit for the job. "How goes the wife?"

"Brother," Lucius greeted in the same manner. "Restless nights, but all else is good. How is... Basilia?"

Word had gone around that Marcus and Basilia Reginus, a daughter of Bellona, were becoming a thing. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Lucius had spoke in a hushed tone, especially since Reyna was in the same room. From what he knew, his half-brother's political career took precedence over everything else in his life, even possible romantic pursuits. Lucius had tried to convince Marcus to settle down, start a family. But the two did not see eye to eye on that topic.

"Not so well," Marcus said, sighing. It was a rare thing for such a disconnected individual to express his vulnerability like that. Lucius had only been witness to it a couple of times in his life, some of them from himself. "She thinks the elections are taking up too much our time. I- "

"Right, if you'll take your seats," Reyna, the Praetor called. The Senators took their seats, quickly ending their in-between meeting discussions. Such was the works of politics, Lucius noted. "Now then. Let us begin. I wanted to start off by congratulating our candidates for making it this far in the elections. So, Marcus, and Hank, congratulations."

"You forgot that you're running, too!" Marcus shouted in a playful manner. One of the things that Lucius appreciated about his half-brother was that he was able to get a joke or two going. "Or has the incumbent forgot?"

"No, Marcus, she has not," Reyna answered. She kept a very stern exterior, even as Marcus was the one throwing the jokes. The candidate for Praetor stifled a giggle.

"No, she just doesn't like to be in the same election as you," Lucius added in. The two sons of Mars tried suppressing their giggles. But that was when Lucius noticed Reyna had had enough.

"Ah, so Lucius, I guess we can just put your name on the list of volunteers for one of our diplomatic missions," Reyna said, angrily carving into her clipboard. "Your _brother_ suggested that you go in his stead, seeing as he will be busy with the elections."

"Mars' bloody spear," Lucius cursed. He hated diplomatic missions ever since having to go get the Greeks sign a peace charter. For some reason, the advisory panel had thought he had done a good job, on his part, so they sent him and Reyna to do the same with the Amazons. Things didn't go so well, but with Hylla, Reyna's sister, in command of the tribe of exotic vixens, they agreed. Now his own brother, half-brother, threw him under the bus by volunteering him for a diplomatic mission. "Please tell me she's joking, making insults, or whatever she does."

"Sorry, brother," Marcus apologized, but not sounding very sorry about it. The volume of his voice dropped as to keep the number of people in the conversation to two. "I promised the leader of a very important support group that I would strengthen relations between our Greek counterparts. And I thought you were the best suited for the job."

"You owe me," Lucius muttered. "Really big for this one."

The next morning, after yet another restless night, Lucius was up and readying himself for the time he would have to spend at Camp Half-blood. It was mostly just him being there, and not really doing anything. To the big groups in New Rome politics, it meant a lot. Some feared that tensions between the Greeks and Romans would rise up to whole new heights. That was one of Marcus' platforms - improving foreign relations. But just as Lucius was saddling his black horse with a mane of fire, _War_, someone had wished to send their goodbyes.

"Going somewhere, Mr. Darrow?" Carolina asked from the garage door. She was wearing _his_ purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt. He had wondered where it had gone to. Still, it was nice to know his clothes fit her well, all things considered. "What would happen if you forgot to say goodbye to your wife before leaving?"

"I don't know, I might have to kiss the first woman I see," Lucius said before planting his lips on the woman's. "But don't let her know I told you that."

"So, Mr. Centurion, how long before you return?" she asked, smiling. Gods, he couldn't get enough of how cute she was. Her sea-green eyes sparkled every time she smiled. "I hear the Mrs. of the house will miss her husband very much."

"A couple of weeks, maybe," Lucius admitted. He hated having to go on trips away from his wife. For how Lucius saw it, they were still in that point of marriage where they aren't too fond of time away from each other. Call it a Southern thing, but he wasn't himself when she wasn't around. He was... _less_. "Hopefully I can pick up a souvenir while I'm gone."

"Before you go... there was something I wanted to tell you," Carolina said, her tone turning a bit grim. "Your horse, he said you look terrible."

"Thanks a lot, buddy," Lucius muttered, glaring at his not-so-noble steed.

"But seriously... there is something," she continued. "But you'll have to come back first."

"Seriously?" Lucius moaned. "Fine. I guess I better get going."

"Hey, Knuckle-head," Carolina teased before giving him a long kiss. She was the only person in the universe whom he had allowed to call him that. "Drive safe, and be careful, okay?"

"Aren't I always?" he replied.

"No, you're not," she said. "Not ever, really."

"Oh, shut up," Lucius said before kissing his wife one last time before leaving. He had his horse transform into its Mist-form, which was a convenient black Harley, with flame patterns on the sides. Fitting. And like that, Lucius rode off to Camp Half-blood.

After a week of going from one side of the country to other, Lucius was back at Camp Half-blood. As much as he hated diplomatic missions, he always liked camp. In his youth, he had been a camper there, despite being a Roman. Plus, getting away from all the stress the elections were building up was good in his mind. After leaving his horse at the camp stables, he made his way back to the Big House, where Chiron was already summoning the cabin counselors for a meeting. It felt like he was trying to get them to sign the peace charter all over again. Still, Lucius had hoped that after two yeas since his last visit, he would find some familiar faces.

In the basement, the son of Mars found himself in the same spot he had two years ago. It felt like déjá vu, which made him a little nervous as to what he should expect next. Fortunately for him, there were friendly faces, like his Greek half-brother, Ryan Osborne, and one of his friends, Ben Smith. He even saw Chris Beas, a son of Poseidon, and Gary Hound, a son of Apollo. Sure, Lucius knew others, but that didn't mean they would accept a Roman with open arms. But all things considered, it looked as if the odds were in his favor.

"So what brings you here, Lucius?" Ryan, his Greek half-brother asked. Despite being opposing species of demigod, they got along pretty well. At least, that was, when they were around each other. The others leaned in to hear what he had to say. Yep, things were definitely looking a lot better than the last time he was there. The son of Mars was supposed to be an observer, well, officially, at least. In reality, he was just there to show that his other half-brother, Marcus, who was still back in New Rome, was actually tried to form some kind bond with the Greeks of Camp Half-blood.

"I'm supposed to be some kind of diplomatic observer," Lucius said casually. He really didn't think highly of his assignment. It wasn't very empathetic of Marcus to send him off to Long Island just so he could get good publicity for his take in the elections for Praetor. He didn't want to be away from his wife, especially with the big news that she had waiting for him. "Basically, I'm just here so they can say I am. Its nothing really. You won't even realize I'll be here."

"What, having a big skulking Roman around a camp full of Greeks?" Gary teased in his usual joking tone. "Thats just crazy-talk. Even for you."

"Well, we are having a Capture the Flag game tonight," Ben said, butting in politely. Lucius always admired Ben for his down-to-Earth character. "Maybe we could have on one of the teams... if you want?"

"Sure," Lucius complied. He didn't really think they would extend an invitation like that on the first day he got there. But he was willing to take whatever hospitality he could. "I'd like that. In the meantime, where would you guys prefer I stay?"

"Well, technically you're allowed to stay in the Ares Cabin," Chiron suggested. "But you could always stay in the Big House if you wanted. There is a spare room next to Mr. D."

"I think I'll need to stay here in the Big House," Lucius said, even after considering sleeping the same building as Dionysus, the god of wine, who was the Camp Director, Mr. D. "In case I have to take some Iris messages in the middle of then night. Just updates and all, but its something I wouldn't want to disturb my half-siblings with."

"Very well, then," Chrion said, giving an acknowledging nod. "Then we are all in agreement to let his stay fro the duration of his mission?"

The collective lack of rejection must've been their way of saying yes.

"Then it is agreed," Chiron said with an official tone. "Welcome back to Camp Half-blood, Lucius Darrow, son of Mars."

After dinner, Lucius found himself standing with his Greek half-siblings from the Ares Cabin in the middle of the woods. The teams had been organized, with the Poseidon Cabin, which consisted of Chris Beas, Leah McElliot, and Paige Summers, as the leader of one team, and the Zeus Cabin, which only housed Benjamin Smith, to the lead the other. Team Poseidon took red, much to the Ares Cabin's favor. Lucius was allowed to play on their team, seeing as he was a child of the war god, perspectives disregarded and all. His half-siblings Ryan Osborne, Kori Maka, and MacKenzie Sharp were more than enough of a fighting force alone, so Lucius kind of had an expectation as to how the odds would play out. The only real adversity the red Poseidon Team had to face was the Apollo and Nike kids, who were all very athletic. Of course, Ben was considered a hazard to their chances of winning, but he was just one person, son of Zeus or not.

But enough about sizing each other up, Lucius was here to get down to business. And just in time, Chiron had just called for everyone's attention.

"All right, campers, you know the rules," Chiron briefed, standing in front of the mass of demigods. Lucius glanced back over at the blue cloth and leather-clad demigods that made up the blue Zeus Team. The Demeter, Athena, Hephaestus, Iris, Nemesis, and Hebe Cabins all agreed to team up with the small Zeus Cabin, as well as the Apollo and Nike Cabins. The Poseidon Cabin had barely formed an alliance with the Hades Cabin, which only had two consistent members - Nicholas Lobo, whom Lucius had quite the history with, and Rosalie Carters. That kind of power play would only help, at least thats what Ryan had thought when he had suggested it Chris. Hopefully any past transgressions between the two cabins would be left alone long enough for their team to win. "The boundary line is the creek, but the whole forest is fair game. You may use any magic item as you wish, but no killing or maiming. Flags must be prominently displayed. You can not have more than two guards. And no less than ten yards from the flag. Now, take your places. The game will start by the end of the horn."

In minutes, and in what seemed like near-complete dark, Lucius was standing alongside some of the other campers from his team. Luckily he had his trusty multi-metaled gladius, _Vicis_, in hand. It was designed specifically to handle just about any opponent and almost any situation. But he hadn't really tested it for a Capture the Flag game.

"I hear the monsters have been acting up," one of the campers said to the other. Lucius kept his ears open to the sounds of the creatures that stalked the woods. It sounded quiet, all too quiet. "More so than before the end of the war. But I don't hear anything. Its weird."

"Well keep your eyes open, then," Ryan said, butting into the conversation. He walked up to Lucius' side. "These newer campers get rattled too easily."

"Tell me about it," Lucius scoffed jokingly. Then suddenly, Chiron's horn let out a great and long bellow, stirring the woods of its demigod campers. Lucius charged into the thick of the woods as soon as the horn had silenced.

Running in, the son of Mars could hear the approaching sounds of demigods charging into battle. While Lucius preferred an upfront assault, he decided he would let the rest of his team take on the bulk of the opposing team while Chris and Lucius, and a couple of other campers slipped in through an open pocket that Ryan and Kori would open up while hammering the center flanks. Lucius would have killed himself if he were a son of Minerva, with all this strategy to be developed.

With Lucius and Chris in the front of the small band, they trekked past a less-known area of the woods. They moved as quietly possible, often splitting up for a couple of seconds before joining up back again. But the further they ventured into the woods, the less of the fighting they could hear. But just as they thought they were about to clear the fighting zones, cries of ambush were unleashed. From all sides, campers descended on the little bravado. In a hopeless defense, Chris and Lucius pulled off from the group, not wanting to become prisoners. The two demigods kept running into they reached a clearing, where only two campers stood guard.

"All right, I'll distract them," Lucius said, while crouching behind a bush, Chris right beside him. "And you go for the flag and book it back to the creek as fast as you can. Got it?"

"Got it," Chris said acknowledging the simple, yet effective tactic. "Ready when you are."

"Here goes nothing," Lucius said, before running out into the clearing. The two guards quickly became aware of the son of Mars coming straight at them. Luckily, Lucius didn't have to directly engage them, just keep them distracted long enough for Chris to slip by and grab the flag. And run. That would be important.

But as Lucius did his best to fend off two experienced campers, he didn't see Chris run for the flag. In that moment, the son of Mars was mad at the possibility of Chris ditching him and bailing when they're so close to snatching the flag. But then maybe something else had happened. The possibility of him being captured was considerably high. Soon, Lucius was outnumbered by a band of returning guards, ten to one. Now, in a Roman War Game, he would've been a whole lot more unforgiving, but seeing as he was on a diplomatic mission, he had to go easy on these kids. Dang, Lucius had realized he was old by demigod terms. At 21, he was considered to had lived out the majority of his life. With a terminal disease, that made things look grim. Not only was he an old demigod, but he was a dying old demigod. All of these things ran through his head as he raised his arms in surrender.

Before long, the game was declared finished as soon as one of the Athena kids had scored. Now, Lucius could accept defeat from a demigod with just about any parentage, but never from an Athena or Minerva kid. That just insulted his pride. Lucius wasn't a fan of Mars, heck he's probably the only demigod with guts to punch the jerk, but he wasn't a big fan of brainiacs either.

With the game finished and the celebrations done, the campers were sent back to their cabins. Lucius was just about to enter the Big House after Mr. D, when he heard the commotion coming from the Poseidon Cabin. With his ADHD knocking out any inhibitions, Lucius ran over to see what was going on. It was just Leah and Paige in the cabin, looking as if they had been missing something important. And then it had dawned on Lucius. They were missing something. Someone.

"Where could he be?" Paige asked, anxiety filling her voice. "He was there for the beginning of the game, but after that, I don't know!"

"Calm down, Paige," Leah said, trying to calm down her younger half-sister. "I'm sure he's just running late from all the partying. Lucius, you wouldn't happen to know where he's been, do you?"

"We were going for the flag together during the game, and he just disappeared," Lucius accounted, recalling his take on the previous events. "I thought he got captured by the other team, so I didn't think much about it. Do you think he could still be in the woods?"

"Well if he is, he's more likely dead," Mr. D said with little interest. "You can look for him in the morning, unless we want to lose more of you little brats. On second thought, that's a fantastic idea."

"What our Camp Director is suggesting," Chiron quickly but politely interjected. The god of wine soon left the cabin. "With the recent... _inconsistency_ in monster activity, it would be unwise to search for him at first light. Until then, I suggest you all get a good night's rest."

"But what about Chris, _our_ brother?" Paige said, anxiety filling her voice. "He can't get a good night's rest out there in the woods!"

"I understand, Paige," Chiron said calmly. "Which is why I must urge you two to stay put. Chris has survived a war, I believe he is capable of surviving the woods for the night. Lucius, may I have a word with you... _outside?_"

Lucius nodded without even saying a word. He kind of knew what kind of words were going to be exchanged. He's been around long enough.

"I don't want the other campers risking themselves for him out there," Chiron said, with more insight than nervousness. His tone was still ominous, which made things a little more desperate. "But you're not a camper, at least not anymore."

"No backup?" Lucius asked, even though he knew the answer. "What am I facing in there? I know things have been a little bit off with the monsters as of late."

"To be honest, Lucius," Chiron began to say. "I don't know. But I know you're trying to develop a good reputation for your camp. Do this... for us, and it will pay off for Camp Jupiter in the long run."

"Right," Lucius said, nodding. He didn't even have to say anything. It was his brother-in-law out there. Carolina would never forgive him if he didn't at least try. "Give me a minute, I'll be out there in a sec."

Lucius was trekking through the woods. He decided he would need some protection, especially since he wasn't sure what he was going to be facing. He wore leather armor, the same he had used for the Capture the Flag game that he was playing just a couple of hours ago. But this was no game. The woods were not some common ground for demigods to take part in games. The woods by this time of night had seeped in with fog, which was strange and unusual, considering the camp's magical weather control. Lucius could only guess that the fog was somehow related with Chris' disappearance.

With the pitch-black darkness, his only true weapon was a simple mag-flashlight. Its cone of light broke through the unfathomable, and gave clarity to the path before him. The only sounds he could hear were that of the midnight insects, his own breath, the crunching of twigs and leaves under his march, and the vacuum of the night silence. But in the silence, he could feel the faint chill of a nearby pursuer, a stalker of sorts. Lucius tried calming his breathing as he made his way back to the point where he had last seen Chris.

Looking around, he could not see anything out of the ordinary. He walked around until the ground gave way before him.

Lucius tumbled down a burrow. No, it was too big of a burrow to be the abode of any animal he knew. Even the monsters of the woodlands preferred alternative habitats. With his flashlight out of his hands, Lucius got back up to his feet. He was in a cave, or a tunnel. It was too hard to tell in the midnight darkness. The pitch black almost seemed solid, impeding his movement and deafening his own hearing. Something very powerful wandered here. Lucius feared it was already upon Chris.

Fortunately, the flashlight flickered back on, making it much easier to find in the pitch black. Lucius went for it, when he heard the faint moan of someone. It had to be Chris, Lucius thought to himself. The son of Mars' breath grew unsteadier as the weight of the darkness settled on him. He could feel the presence of his stalker, but he did not look back, in fear of being taken. He followed the coarse voice until he found someone held by some sticky, black goo. Lucius pulled out his sword to cut down Chris.

"... they're coming," Chris muttered, half-consciously. The son of Mars worked as fast as he could to get him freed. "... the cycle must continue... he is here."

"Who, Chris?" Lucius asked, just as he got him down and freed of his restraints. Lucius shot straight up to his feet when he felt a thump in the ground. Pointing the flashlight to where the sound had originated, the son of Mars froze on the spot. Never in his life, nor in the life of any other demigod, had he faced a nightmare like this.

It still on legs too thin and too long to support a regular human, causing it stand in a crooked posture, its head leaning forward and titled. The creature's arms were unnaturally vine-like, causing them to just hang down. Its height was interrupted when it stood hunched under the ceiling of the tunnel. But its face was what had shocked him the most. Where a human head was fixed, there was no face. No eyes, nose, mouth, nothing. Its face was a pale emptiness that mirrored its presence. That was when the black tentacles began shooting for him.

Lucius' ADHD and battle reflexes allowed him to avoid the first, and strike at the second. But this monster did not shriek, nor show any signs of pain, any signs of life, for that matter. It was a lifeless towering creature of lifelessness, but Lucius had to overcome. This thing was responsible for Chris' abduction and the absence of monsters. It had to be stopped here and now.

He would never expect the thing to move so quickly. It attacked with a ferocity of a Mars or Bellona child, but the speed and dexterity of a Minerva kid. Still no signs of life as it swiped at him with its appendages. It had grabbed for him several times with those horrible tentacles, but Lucius did his best to sever them from usage. He was not going to be taken by this abomination.

When it had begun to attack with its hands, Lucius tried using the same tactic as before. Sever and repeat. Luckily, it was no hydra, making it much easier to deal with, but its fear factor and terrifying presence were beginning to get to Lucius. Finally, after a long combat, he had found its weak point, striking and hitting repeatedly until it was gone... as if it were never there. Lucius stood there, sweating from fighting for his life, with no golden dust of a traditional monster, nor blood of a mortal or immortal. It was as if he had fought a ghost.

Lucius darted back for Chris, to make sure he was going to be okay. When they were able to, Lucius and Chris made their exodus from that accursed tunnel, and with good timing. The light of Apollo's morning had just begun to poke through the sky. The woods had resumed its usual sounds and rackets. Birds chirping, Hellhounds growling. For once, Lucius actually welcomed the sound of monsters waking up. It looked as though things were returning to normal. In no time, they were back at camp, where demigods had just begun to arise to a new day.

Lucius was sitting at a table in the Big House, looking out on the view of the cabins. Campers ran to and fro, enjoying the activities of their daily schedules. He was glad that things were back to normal. But he was especially glad to be rid of whatever he had faced. Lucius had accounted the tale to Chiron, who thought long and hard and what kind of monster it was that he faced, but he could not think of anything that matched the description. Lucius came up with a name for it on the spot. [i]_Der Ritter_[/i], in German, a language Lucius was not familiar with. He may have not truly understood its meaning, but he knew that it somehow matched the creature he faced.

So every other night, at the camp fire, he would tell the story to the campers, especially the younger ones. It was a warning, a scary story, but above all, it was a Roman, peacefully coexisting with Greeks. Maybe he was the person for this job, or maybe he was meant to come here. Either way, he enjoyed his time at Camp Half-blood. But his real family was West, in a moderately-sized house in the Old Rome District of New Rome.

He had gotten back after three weeks time. He found his wife sitting in the dining room, sipping a cup of coffee. She simply glanced at him with a toothless grin.

"You had something to tell me?" Lucius said as he got settled in. She glanced over to the side, where Lucius' eyes soon followed. He widened when he saw what she had meant. Against the wall of the adjacent room was a cradle. Not a real one, but something of a symbol. A glimpse of his future, as a father, with kids. Lucius' epiphany was so sudden, he passed out on the spot.

**Sometimes we're standing on a road, where we can't quite see what's on the other end. We may try to fight our near-sight, but the circumstantial will always be in play. We have to do what we are meant to do.**

**We need to go forward. Headfirst into the fog.**

**Thats where the true adventure awaits us.**

**End log 033**


	6. Chapter 5: Divide and Conquer

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is told from the first-person POV of Katrina Darrow. This chapter may be long for some, but its really important to catch all the details here.

**Chapter V: Divide and Conquer**

**I could feel Devin Coll's hot breath as he nearly eviscerated me.** His thrusts were deep and firm. He was so sure of himself when it came to facing someone like me. His size made him overconfident, a little cocky. Unfortunately for the legacy of Pluto and Minerva, I wasn't going to be the one taking the bulk of the attack.

"Don't let him get on top of you!" Howard shouted from outside the small, enclosed arena. He was one of the few Romans standing in a crowd of Greek campers. It was their home after all, Camp Half-blood. For the most part, Howard, myself, and the other 14 Romans that had come all the way from Camp Jupiter had gotten along with the Greeks pretty well. My hybrid cousins like Joanna, Gwen, and Javier, were treated like family members. I guess they kind of were. Even Wyatt and Logan were pretty nice to me. Their mutual friend, Blake, was especially nice to me. Nice or not, I still kicked his butt when it came to the quarter finals of the third event of the Annual Demigod Games. "Parry! Roll! Slash from behind!"

Usually Howard was right, usually about everything. He was a legacy of Victoria, the Roman equivalent of Nike. Perfection was his only edge, especially when he had to go against demigods and legacies who were naturally gifted with bows or weapons in general. And he was older, so he had more experience than most of his peers. It showed. He was always stern, spoke only when he had something useful. It was hard to get him to just be him, even after being friends with him since... forever.

But since Howard was usually right about everything, I took advice. I may have been tall for a 16 year old girl, but I managed parry Devin's slash, just before rolling to his flank and then completely behind him. His size made it a just little harder for him to turn on a dime, but he was back around to face me in no time, just after I managed to get in a good swing at his rear. His leather armor was weakest in the bonds of the leather straps that held the whole thing together. With just the tiniest nip, the whole thing came undone. Devin Coll, proud Centurion of the Fourth Cohort, was reduced to his purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt.

"That's okay, I was going too easy on you, Darrow," Devin snorted as he tossed the heap of his armor at me. I caught it, which was a distraction. Something I'm usually prone to fall to. I throw it aside just as he's coming full force at me. I jumped out of the way, knowing that I could not block nor parry someone his size coming at me at that speed. I hit one of the walls with my back.

Upside down, I could see Blake, with his newly-added black eye, leaning over the short wall and looking at me. He winked, then gave a quick smile. His gold-colored eyes reflected beautifully in the summer sun.

"You're not going to let this guy beat you, are you?" Blake asked, as I got myself back up. He looked like he was going to get in there and help, but that would have gotten me disqualified. Though, I wouldn't be so surprised, especially since I had beaten him two matches ago. If things had gone differently, it might have been Blake and Devin competing for third place, or even Blake and Howard to go for gold. I guess Howard would have to deal with Wyatt, who was actually taking Cameron's place, since he had to rest from overexerting himself in his last match. Howard was getting a lucky break. Cameron was wickedly powerful with his dual electro-whips. "There's no way the chick that gave me this is gonna back down from a guy like him."

"Yeah, especially since the guy who got that was a total pushover the whole time," Wyatt butted in. He was holding onto his trident, in anticipation of the next match - his match with Howard. Blake gave a him a look, but they both laughed it off. I, on the other hand, had to deal with Devin. "Yo, Kit-Kat. Heads up!"

I looked up, just as Devin was coming in, swinging his sword. His intent was clear. He wasn't taking any survivors. Well, neither was I. With _Vicis_ still firmly in my grip, I was the first to swing. Devin put up a decent parry, stopping the momentum of my attack. Instead of going in again, I backed up a step, then put some power behind my next swing. Drawing on my natural martial abilities, the power in my attack was enough to get a guy as big as Devin stagger a little bit. I guess that was what happened when you're the legacy of Pluto and Minerva. Not exactly durable. With Devin's guard down, I ran in and charged at him, tackling him at his waist. The attack speared him to the ground, me on top. With the air knocked out of him, I was ready to make the killing blow. My arm was raised, waiting for an official to stop the match and declare me the winner, but just when my ego reached a new peak, I was suddenly blinded.

Recoiling back, I realized Devin had thrown sand into my face when I had least expected it. From the way the Greeks were cheering, it sounded like my opponent was already back on his feet.

"You rely on brute force too much, Darrow," the Centurion of the Fourth Cohort said in a taunting voice. If he was trying to get me angry and unfocused, then it wasn't working. I was angry, but I was as sure as Pluto focused... on him. "Its going to get the best of you one of these days."

"Well until then... ," I began to say as I lunged an attack at him. "... I'm going to brutally beat you until you meet your grandfather!"

And before I could make good on my words, the judges rushed in to stop me from doing just that. I was declared the winner. Well, third place in the final event, but that was a much better than how I did when I first tried the Annual Demigod Olympics. I hadn't even managed to get one win then. Now, I was in the top eight. I guess thats what four years of nonstop War Games and Order of Romulus training will do for you.

After getting back into my purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt, I decided to do some exploring. I had had enough of competitions for the day and I had only seen a small portion of Camp Half-blood during my stay there. I decided to go to the biggest thing I could find - the Big House. Chiron and Bacchus, Mr. D as the Greeks called him, were off preparing the final match between Howard and Wyatt. That left the porch pretty empty, like one of those empty houses in Kansas or wherever. I found myself standing inside, taking a look at all the different pictures and portraits.

There were all kinds of people, those who I thought I had seen in history books, others that I could've sworn I've seen from somewhere. Then there were people from Dad's generation. I froze when I saw a picture of him and Uncle Jacob standing with other now-adult demigods. The picture was titled _First Annual Demigod Games, March 2011._ Dad looked so much younger then. Even with his facial scars, I could see why Mom fell for him. Then I found a more recent picture of Dad. He was standing on what was called Half-blood Hill. I could see his Legion tattoos. But then I saw something around his neck. Some kind of necklace - the kind that the Greeks wore.

"I think I've seen that necklace somewhere before," someone said behind me. I almost jumped around punched who it was before realizing it was Blake. His black eye had healed up a bit. Must've been the ambrosia. "Oh, sorry. I just saw you go in. You know we're not allowed to be in here unsupervised, right?"

"I'm not a camper here, Blake," I say teasingly. But I was interested in Dad's beaded necklace. He used to sport the orange, but was he really allowed to have a necklace like the others? "You've seen it before? Where?"

"I think your Dad had some kind of office here," Blake explained, leading me down a hallway. Creaking open a door, was a room with just a simple desk in the corner. A couple of boxes were stacked off to the side. Overall, it looked pretty lifeless. A little reminder of home. Mom was lifeless, and Jake wasn't saying a word. He looked so angry, like he was shutting off the rest of the world. At least he had friends in the Third Cohort. As much as Hannah and I didn't like each other, she was a good influence on him. "He was some kind of ambassador to Camp Half-blood right?"

"Yeah, I think so," I said. Truth be told, I didn't really know a lot about his job before he died. I kind of regretted not learning more when he was still around. "He didn't really talk about it a lot."

That was the first time I lied to Blake.

"Oh right, sorry," he said, scratching the back of his head. He stopped then went to go looking in the desk. In less than a minute, he pulled out the same necklace from the picture. "I guess that means this is yours now. Here, let me get it on for you."

I pulled back my hair while Blake carefully fitted the bead necklace around my neck. It fit with enough slack to hang low enough to hide.

"And I might just make a Greek out of you, yet," he joked. I turned around to let him see it, but I hadn't realized how close he was standing until our faces were just inches apart. "Whoa."

"How does it look?" I ask, trying to make the situation less awkward.

"You look perfect," Blake says, before correcting himself. "_It_ looks perfect."

"Thanks."

A couple hours later, after Howard's victory over Wyatt, I'm at the Mess Hall. Its much more open than the seating arrangements at Camp Jupiter. And with the festivities of the competitions going on, we're not necessarily restricted to any particular assigned seating. Its a perfect communion. Greeks and Romans, hybrids, legacies, demigods, satyrs, and nymphs. All of us are enjoying the good times. I even catch a glimpse of Bacchus cracking a quick smile every once in awhile. Mr. Lobo and Mr. Ward are having a friendly debate while Uncle Ryan is beating Gary Hound in an arm-wrestling match.

"Its pretty nice, isn't it?" Scott asks, as he finds a seat next to me. His gaze would occasionally glance back to the same spot to his left every once in a while. "Hey, can I get your advice on something?"

"I live to serve the Legion and its loyal soldiers," I say jokingly. Scott's expression shifts to a cross between seriousness and anxiety.

"If you were to get the vibe that something bad, like really bad was going to happen... " Scott began to ask. He glanced back at that peculiar direction again, but I have no idea what he's trying to glance at. "... would you, I don't know... do the things you've always wanted to do?"

"I guess," I responded. I think I knew what he was trying to get at. "Are you talking about a girl by any chance?"

"No... yes," he admitted, blushing a little. It was no surprise that after four years of being friends with Scott Ward, now Centurion of the First Cohort, that he had eyes for a girl. It was only natural. The question was, who? "I'd rather not drop any names. But lets say she's in a position of power, like an officer or something... "

Oh gods. _I'm_ an officer, a Centurion. Of the Second Cohort. Was he trying to say that he likes me... as in more than friends? He was nice and everything, but we were just friends. Not to mention, he was younger than me. And I wasn't really interested in relationships or anything. I didn't really know what I wanted.

"This girl... what Cohort is she in?" I asked, fearing the worst. I was preparing for ways of making rejection sound nice. So far, nothing was working. My mind was racing with what to say.

"Uh, I'd rather not say," he said. Oh gods. No. Please, no. "You might figure out who if I told you which Cohort."

"Fine, which side does she play during War Games?" I ask, trying to make sure that it was not me. I really hoped it was not me. "Team Fulminis or Team Tornitruum?"

Scott and I, being members of the First and Second Cohorts, naturally played on Team Fulminis. Howard used to play on Team Fulminis, when he was Centurion, but I succeeded him when became Praetor. My brother Jake, and my many cousins played on Team Tornitruum. That way, I could at least narrow down Scott's mystery girl to at least three or possibly two possible cohorts.

"Team Tornitruum," Scott finally said, relieving all fears. It wasn't me. Its not that I hated him or anything, its just that I didn't want complications taking on the title of Centurion. "Sort of. So... do you mind if I go? She's about to leave."

"Of course, go for it, Scott," I say encouragingly. Right when his back was to me, I let out the biggest sigh of relief. That was close. And just as one guy left, another to his place. "Hey, Howard."

"How's it going, Katrina?" the Praetor of the Twelfth Legion said as he found a seat next to me. Howard and I went way back. Back to early-early childhood. He was my first friend, family members not counted. Tonight he was all decked out in his Praetor's outfit, complete with medals and ribbons from his victories and exploits. He looked like the model Roman Praetor. _He was the model Roman Praetor._ A lot of the girls, including some of my cousins, like Gwen and Joanna Peake, had crushes on him. I even remember one girl interrupting the coronation ceremony just to get a hug out of him. But for some reason, he was never with anyone.

At 18, I figured he would go out with his fellow Praetor, Hannah Copperfield, as history has shown us. Still, he was single. And I was never able to figure out why. Then again, he is a legacy of Victoria, the goddess of victory. Self-perfection was his ultimate destiny, as the stereotype went, but that probably meant he was looking for the perfect companion. The perfect girl. If he were my parents age, he probably would've courted former Praetor Reyna. But thats just my thinking.

"Not much," I say, completely disregarding my little talk with Scott. I take a sip from my cup to play it cool. But Howard is able to see through most people, including myself. He's like a slightly nice version of Batman. Slightly. "What about you, Mr. Praetor _and_ Grand Champion."

"You know I'm not one to flaunt my ego," Howard joked, cracking a small smile. The first in awhile. A smiling Howard meant all was well in the world of gods and monsters and everything in between. At least for the moment. "But I'm also fairly keen when someone isn't telling the full truth. Spill, or I'll have to ask nicely."

"I'm terrified," I say, playing into his light-hearted mood. I was beginning to question whether or not this was the same Howard I've grown up with. "Scott was asking advice about talking to a girl, something like that."

"And what did you tell him?" he asked.

"I told him he should go for it," I summed up. "We're demigods, sort of. Who knows what tomorrow brings us."

"And what would you do in his case?"

"I don't know. I'm not really looking for anyone."

"Or maybe because you don't have to look."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."

"Eventually," I say to myself, pausing for a moment. Did Howard just flirt with me? He had never showed interest before. Why now? I soon came to the realization that I was getting worked over the idea of Howard being interested in me. First Scott, now this.

Just another day of my life. I guess.

Later that night, as all the celebrations had died down, Bacchus, Mr. D, had sent us all to bed. Yes, all of us. Even the visiting Romans. Their camp, their rules. I wasn't one to argue. I was tired from beating up Devin and anyone else I had to go against. But as I headed back to the Ares Cabin, the one where Logan, Derek, and Ellen were staying. Uncle Ryan used to stay there, being a son of Mars, er, Ares. It was kind of weird staying a Greek cabin. The barracks at Camp Jupiter were comparable, but different.

It was hard to explain. The rules were flexible, that was for sure. But there was the element of danger missing. That was it.

I immediately stopped comparing the two when I say my little brother standing by the doorway of the cabin. He was looking off in the distance, like he had been waiting for me.

"Hey, Jake," I greeted. He seemed to respond more when I called him Jake, instead of Jacob. Everyone else had been calling him that too, so I thought I could get him to open up a little more if I approached him like everyone else. "Were you waiting for me?"

"The Big House," he said, turning his head to face me. He had a sour look on his face, like he couldn't bear to look at me. This was my brother, the grouchy preteen. "Five minutes."

"Thanks," I say, showing a whole lot more enthusiasm than him. "I'll be there."

"Good," he said before heading off on his own in the dark.

I didn't go after him. He wanted his distance from me, from everyone. He usually hung out with our cousin Javier Beas, but since he was on vacation with parents and sister, Ashley, my brother was on his own in a camp full of Greeks. Derek was there, but they didn't really have that whole cousinly friendship thing going yet. Unlike him, I got along with Logan, Derek, Trent, Wyatt, Ellen, Jordan and just about all of the cousins Neptune and Mars could provide.

After some time, I headed back to the Big House. I had Dad's necklace on, the one that Blake helped put on me. I remembered how he looked when we were inches away from each other. I think I was blushing a bit then too, but I told myself I wasn't interested in anyone. But then I remembered Howard's words. Maybe the person I'm interested in is someone I don't have to look for.

Not now. Later. Now I had to go see what my brother was sending me to. When I got inside, I immediately noticed Howard was sitting in one of the chairs inside. He had been waiting for me. But we had just talked during the celebration dinner. Why couldn't he just say what he wanted to say to me then? No, this must have been important.

"There you are- " Howard began to say when he noticed something about me. He got out of his seat and walked up to me. "Where did you get that necklace?"

"Its my dad's," I explained. His eyes widened right as I went onto the next part. "Blake found it for me. Do you like it?"

"Its fine," he said unenthusiastically. I knew there was some kind of rivalry going on between him and Blake, but over what? Howard was Praetor of the Legion, the leader. Blake was a leader among his peers, being a legacy of Jupiter, I mean Zeus. And he was the king of the gods. "I wanted you here with the other members of the Order. We've got some information."

"From who?" I asked, as Howard led me into a back room. Inside was Scott and his younger sister, Cindy. Jake came in right after, whom I had not seen come in until just now. "Hey, Jake."

Again, no response.

"You'll see," Howard said, with almost a grin. I counted five, myself included. With the door closed, it had to be one of us. I had thought this, until no one looked like they going to say anything. That, and the fact that there was an Iris message opening up in the middle of the room.

When the figure finally formed I had realized why Howard decided not to tell me, because the person on the other end of the message was none other than Evan Pravus, Centurion of the Fifth Cohort.

"Hello, fellow compatriots," Evan greeted through the Iris message. He had grown quite a bit over the past four years since the first time we've met. Despite being one of the most influential officers in the Legion, he didn't pursue the office of Praetor. Instead, he backed Howard during the elections. Evan was at least 21 now, a full adult, but since he didn't really have a home or family outside of the Legion, he decided he was going to stay in the Fifth Cohort for as long as he could, with no plans on retiring anytime soon. "As Praetor Howard Amos may have told you, my cell has recently stumbled on a lead on our bitter rivals and enemies of Rome, the Golden Age Movement... "

Last year, much to our dismay, the Golden Age cultists went public, becoming a very influential political party. Investigations had become difficult to impossible with the Senate cracking down on any other secret societies waiting to mainstream. The Order of Romulus, for one, was still a very small group of veterans, Centurions, Legionnaires, and now, a Praetor. Our numbers had only reached two dozen in the last four years, Jake and Cindy joining two years ago.

"... We have pinpointed a possible site for their secret gatherings," Evan explained. Even though I was told that I could trust him, I still had my reservations when it came to him. Most people were calling him the next Jason Grace, while his enemies were calling him the next Octavian. It was the little things like that that made me feel how I do about him. It was even worse when he was looking right at me, with his golden-colored eyes. Blake had golden-colored eyes, but his were something warmer, like a sunset. Evan's eyes were a cold kind of gold. His dark blonde hair only emphasized his eyes. "A surgical strike could apprehend them when they are at their most vulnerable."

"Like shooting fish in a barrel," Scott interjected.

"Exactly," Evan nodded. "Which is why we must strike as soon as you return."

"You're not going to lead the sting?" Howard asked. I, too, was sure that the person who made the discovery would take the credit.

"No, I have other preparations that my cell needs to take care of," the Centurion explained, trying to make it sound like he was sorry. "Which means I'll be out of town for a couple of days. I apologize for the inconvenience, Praetor Amos."

"I understand," Howard said, rubbing his a chin a bit. The Iris message faded as the teleconference ended. "We'll need to muster up our resources to pull off a successful sting. Any suggestions?"

"We can't get the Legion to send some guys, can we?" Scott asked, even though he knew the answer. We were fighting an invisible war. Our weapons were intelligence, leverage, deception. The Golden Age Movement wasn't even supposed to go public. That was a failure on our part. Which was why we had to take them out without exposing ourselves to everyone. Mom didn't even know that Jake and I were part of the Order of Romulus. Jake, and Cindy, may have been part of a junior cell, but that didn't mean they were capable of taking care of themselves. "Right, of course not."

"What if we got our parents' help?" Cindy said. I wasn't sure, but it sounded like Cindy had some kind of speech impediment. She usually didn't speak up, being a junior member, but when she did Scott usually-

"Our advisors," Scott said, right on cue. "Mr. Amos, my Dad, and Mr. North. They are part of this as much as we are. We could get resources from them."

"That's actually a good idea," Howard said. He usually shot down most ideas, well most of mine. "Katrina, you could talk to your uncle about getting some manpower from his _ludus_."

The Lion's Den. That was the name of Uncle Marcus' gladiator school. He trained some of the best competitors for most of the year. He had maybe one or two rival schools, but in the end, it was his whose got out on top. If Howard was thinking manpower, he was thinking of borrowing gladiators from my Uncle Marcus.

"Scott, you could talk to your dad and get supplies and funding for our operation," Howard continued. Mr. Ward, Scott's dad, was the heir of the del Sol legacy, one of the biggest, if not the oldest legacies in New Rome. Just five years ago, Howard and I snuck into the del Sol mansion, which was no small task. It was where we met Scott and recruited him. "I'll get my dad to pull a few strings on city watch, get a couple of people to look the other way."

"This just might work," I said under my breath. It had been a long five years since we were first assigned with dealing with these guys. It was nice to finally be able to actually make a big move against them for once.

"I hope so," Howard said. I was a little surprised he had heard me. Then again, we were in a small, enclosed room. "I'm tired of not getting anything done."

"Hey, remember that old saying, 'Hope for the best, but expect the worst?' " Scott asked rhetorically. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Back in New Rome, with all of our resources pooled together, we met up in an alleyway, about a dozen of Uncle Marcus' best gladiators, and the three of us. Cindy and Jake were supposed to show up a little later. The plan was simple, the gladiators, Howard, Scott, and I were to bust in what was supposed to be a conclave for insurgents of the Golden Age Movement. We weren't exactly sure how many, but luckily we had backup. If worst came to worst, Howard and Scott's parents' connections could clear up anything that came up about us. But that was the worst-case scenario.

"Masks," Howard said, as he put on his face-mask to conceal his identity. Scott and I did the same, as did the others. The ski mask fit on tightly, making me feel my breath on my face. Howard's bold eyes were the only thing I could make out in the night lighting. Scott's were too narrow to differentiate. "Five years in the making. You guys know the plan?"

"I got it," I said, shaking my head up and down in case he couldn't hear me through the ski mask. I even threw in a thumbs up. Even with the mask on, I could tell what Howard's look was. Grumpy.

"Yeah, we go and bash the door down and- " Scott began to say, before he stopped. He then stared blankly. After a moment, he caught himself, blinking a couple of times. "... Whoa."

"What just happened?" Howard asked. I was beginning to worry too. Scott seemed to blank out a couple of times here and then, but now it was starting to occur more and more often. "Are you seeing things again?"

"Yeah... I think so," he said, shaking a little bit. His eyes were wide open, as if he saw something he shouldn't have. He scratched the back of his head to regain his composure. He then stared at me for a second. "Uhh... can we get this over with? I'm not feeling really well."

"Scott, what did you see?" Howard demanded, knowing that he did see something. Even I knew he had to have seen something to be acting like that. Still...

"I'm not sure," Scott said, struggling for a moment. "I think its just something I ate not agreeing with me. You mind if stay back for a bit?"

"Yeah... sure," Howard said, his bold eyes still fixed on Scott. The Centurion from the First Cohort gave the Praetor a silent nod, then got one in return. What was going on between these two? "Katrina, you're with me."

Howard and I took point by the backdoor entrance to the meeting place while the gladiators lined up behind us. One of them stayed behind to keep an eye on Scott. I hope he was okay. Meanwhile, one of the bigger gladiators stepped up to the door and kicked it down. I think his stage name was "The Stomper." Either way, the door became a doorway with just his boot. Filing in, Howard and I and the others cleared the room. There were a lot of boxes and the lights were off, making everyone just a little suspicious.

"Clear," one of the gladiators called out.

"Clear here," another said.

Howard signaled for us to search the next room. The big guy from before repeated his trick. But this time, instead of rushing into a dark room full of boxes, we came into some kind of flower shop. I could tell because I've must walked by it from the outside sidewalk hundreds of times. The lights were on. And someone's back was to us.

Without even thinking, Howard and I knocked him down. He wore an apron, like he worked there. Howard pulled out some restraints and slapped them on the guy's wrist. For some reason, I got the feeling that this wasn't a great idea.

Just then, the front door swung open. The guy who came in looked shocked, like he walked onto a murder scene. I knew as soon as I saw him that we were either in big trouble, or we made our biggest catch.

Thurgood Swift, Evan Pravus' fellow Centurion from the Fifth Cohort, was the public face of the Golden Age Movement. He was the one out on the streets gaining supporters. We didn't have enough dirt on the guy to pin him as the mastermind of this underground cult. And now he had fallen into our little operation. With optimistic energy, I hopped over a table and pinned the guy before he could get a word out.

"What are you doing?!" the shopkeeper screamed. "He's just a customer!"

"Unhand me, you cretans!" Thurgood barked while I strapped on some plastic restraints. I got him up to his feet, while he thrashed around. Thank gods for being a granddaughter of Mars. One of the gladiators helped me take him to the back room storage. Howard came in. I stood back. One thing I've learned about him was his resilience and his bold methods.

"Do you know who I am?!" Thurgood continued his rant, whilst his arms were restrained behind him. "I am Thurgood Swift, Centurion of the Fifth Cohort! I'll have your heads for treason!"

"Not unless everyone finds out what you really are," Howard said, roughing up his voice so Thurgood wouldn't be able to distinguish it. "When they find out that _you_ are the traitor."

"What are you blabbering about?" he demanded. "Now I'm going to bury you with treason _and_ heresy."

That was Howard gave him a backhanded slap. I wanted to step in, but I knew I would get in the way. I wasn't as good at this sort of thing. Plus I would probably slip and reveal my identity. Then all five years of fighting these guys would have been for nothing. For sure, I would end up dead. Howard would be removed from office, if not dead. And Jake would be in trouble for just associating. The same with Rogan.

So for now, I stayed back.

"We know the Golden Age Movement isn't just some political party," Howard said in his coarsest voice. "You are the enemies of New Rome."

"Do you have any idea of the slander that spews out of your mouth?" Thurgood said. I was beginning to have my doubts about this operation. But we were already too invested in it to simply pull out now. The only direction we could go was forward. "I have no idea what you're talking about! We only wish to put our city back on top."

"Then give us what we need," Howard offered. His tone shifted from bad cop to good cop, which was a little disappointing because he did a really good bad cop. "Names, meeting places. Help us put New Rome back on top."

"I told you, I don't know anything!" Thurgood said. Howard turned back to me.

"You can go," he said, dismissing me. There was an eerie grimness in his tone, making me fear the worst for Thurgood. "Check up on our friend outside."

I went back outside and shut the door behind me. Scott was sitting on a wooden crate. He had taken off his mask, so I did the same, thinking it was safe at the time. I nodded to the gladiator, letting him know it was okay to leave his watch duty.

"How are you holding up?" I asked, finding a seat next to him when he scoots to the side.

"Okay, I guess," he said, wiping his mouth. "I think I threw up a couple of times."

"Gross," I said in the most plain voice I could come up with. Unlike most girls, I had pretty thick skin. "I've notice you've had your... _moments_. Howard asked what you saw. Are you seeing things?"

"I was trying to keep it on the down-low, but yeah... " he admitted. "Recently, I've been getting these glimpses of... I don't know. It doesn't look like anything I've seen before, so the future I guess."

"What did you see then?" I asked, hoping not to prod too much. It looked like he had seen something very wrong. And if he did actually throw up a couple of times, then it must have been really bad. "We've been friends for a couple of years now, you can trust me."

"I... I don't know what I saw," Scott said slowly, staring blankly ahead. "Death... Destruction... And then I saw you."

"What about me?"

"I saw you dead, or dying, on the verge of death. I couldn't tell."

My eyes widened. Scott was a legacy of Apollo, and if he was seeing things, then it could have been visions of the future. Prophecies, which fell in Apollo's territory. Could he have really seen the future... me dying? I wasn't sure if I should dig any deeper. I felt my own face copy Scott's from earlier as I got up off the wooden crate.

"Look, I'm sorry," Scott pleaded. "I shouldn't have told you. Its just... Howard keeps having me tell him."

"Howard has been using your powers?" I asked. If he was exploiting Scott, the Praetor was going to be in trouble. "What is he doing with what you tell him?"

"Its nothing like that, Katrina," Scott pleaded, looking a little bit more sick. "I just tell him what I see. I knew I couldn't just keep this all to myself."

He was right. Scott saw me dead or dying. That was enough to rattle me. It had only been five years since Dad's death, and now I was already getting a glimpse at mine. I began to feel a little sick myself. But wanted to sit there on the wooden crate and not do anything, but that would have to wait. I was still in the middle of a mission.

Getting up, I headed back in. Thurgood was gone. And the room looked like a mess. Boxes were knocked over, some damaged. Papers were scattered about on the floor. Howard stood there, breathing heavily.

"Where is Thurgood?" I asked, still feeling a little sick. "Did he do this? Did he get away?"

"Five years," Howard said quietly but coarsely. He sounded like he had exhausted himself. "We have been going at this for five years... and still NOTHING!"

That's when Howard picked up the chair and threw it at the nearest thing in the room, which was the window next to the back door. The glass shattered as soon as the chair hit it. Howard was going nuts.

"Stop it, Howard!" I yelled, running over to stop him before he got himself hurt. "You're out of control!"

"This whole mission is out of control!" Howard continuing yelling. When I got over to him and tried calming him down, he swung his arm at me, knocking me down.

Howard froze as his arm was raised, ready to strike me while I was on the ground. He looked at his hand then back at me. He was realizing just how violent he had become. There were a couple of tears coming from my face. And I could see his eyes starting to water.

Never once in the nine years that we have known each other has Howard hit me, whether intentionally or angrily. To see him to it now to me broke my heart.

But before I could say anything, he ran off. Just then, Scott came in.

"Katrina!" he said, running over to help me up. "What happened?"

"Its nothing," I say, lying to my teeth. I knew that Howard was stressed with juggling the investigation _and_ Praetor. I didn't want Scott to see him like this. I didn't want to see Howard like this. But it was too late.

"Go check on Howard," I said. Scott left and I just stood there, sobbing.

Things would never be the same from here on out.

The debriefing with the senior members of the Order did not go well. Uncle Marcus, who did most of the yelling, followed by Howard's Dad, was furious. Luckily, Mr. Ward, Scott's Dad, didn't take part in the vocal contest.

"This is not good enough!" Uncle Marcus said, veins popping out from his neck. "We have you granted the manpower and resources and all you can return is another political complication?! Do you have any idea the kind of blowback you-all of us-will be getting?"

"Five years... this is too long for just one investigation!" Mr. Amos butted in. "Howard! I expected better of you than... than this!"

"Father, I'm- " the Praetor began to say. It was hard to see Howard submit to any one person, whether he was Praetor or not. Then again, I did see his dark side just the night before.

"No!" Mr. Amos cut him off. "You will not speak of this failure! I am personally removing you from the investigation!"

"But he was just doing the best he could, Mr. Amos!" I said, trying to defend Howard, even though I was still shell-shocked from the previous incident. "Its not like he- "

"My son has very fully briefed me on his incident last night, Ms. Darrow," Mr. Amos said, his blue eyes and dark face turning to me. Even in the poor lighting of the War Chamber, I could see the seriousness in his eyes. "I know what happened between you two. So do not try to defend him."

"And you, Katrina Darrow!" Uncle Marcus snapped. "You have been neglecting your duties as Centurion! Your father would be ashamed to see his and my Cohort go to waste."

That was when I had had enough. Enough of Howard, the investigation, Jake being a jerk, Mom not talking, everything. No one talked about Dad like that. Not even Uncle Marcus.

"Perhaps... we should put the investigation on a temporary suspension," Mr. Ward said, just before I was about to go off on Uncle Marcus. It was a good thing too, I had borrowed his gladiators for a failed operation, speaking out against him like that wouldn't have gone out well. "These three have been nonstop for five years. I'm sure it would be okay if they took the rest of the summer off."

"That is not an option," Uncle Marcus said. "The twentieth anniversary of the defeat of Gaea is just next week. They may try to make a move then. And with this group a man down... "

"I could attend the anniversary and monitor things," Mr. Amos suggested. I was getting kind of annoyed that they were discussing these things in front of us, like we weren't even there, but there was still some kind of judgement to be rendered. And if it involved the three of us, Howard, Scott, and myself, then I would have to sit through it. "As for a replacement, we could bring in someone from the other cells."

"We will decide on that later," Uncle Marcus said, finalizing the discussion. "The three of you, leave."

Sometimes I wondered if Uncle Marcus and Dad really were half-brothers, or if one of them was adopted, or just... whatever. I wanted space from Howard and the Order of Romulus in general. Maybe a suspension in the investigation was something I needed.

Later that day, after running a couple of errands, as part of my role as Centurion, I stopped by the forum. As usual, people were living out their lives comfortably. Most of the citizens of New Rome were either retired soldiers of the Legion, or descendants of the soldiers. That's what I liked about New Rome, there was a sense of heritage being part of it. And if you didn't have a heritage here, then you could make one.

I think thats what Dad liked about it, too. He would always take me to a little frozen yogurt shop here in the forum. I headed there, wanting to get back a piece of my childhood before it was lost to age. I went in through the little shop, the bell chiming to signal the door had been opened. It was the little things like these that I liked.

After getting my usual strawberry-banana combo, I found a seat next to a nearby fountain. Taking a spoonful of my frozen yogurt, I could hear little kids running around, couples enjoying each other's company. The city was just as alive as the people around me.

But my peaceful Roman afternoon would soon come to an end. A familiar face took the seat next to mine.

"Rogan, what are you doing here?" I asked. Not to be rude, but fauns usually weren't seen in the middle of the forum. There was this kind of invisible dotted line that kept them out of plain sight. If you wanted to find a faun, you would have to go along the roads, behind an alley, or just wait until some large feast or festival was being held. But other than that, they operated their own little part of the city.

"I know your investigation and little raid hit the water," the faun announced. "So I want to help."

"Why do you feel you need to help?" I asked. Fauns, including Rogan, were usually monetarily-driven. Most of them in New Rome panhandled by the side of Via Praetoria. I was half-expecting him to ask something of me to compensate for him assisting me. "Other than being an informant for the Order, of course. But still... why?"

"You got a lot of spunk, kid," the faun admitted. I took that as a compliment, given who it was coming from. "Before your dad died, I knew there was going to be something coming for you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, leaning in.

"You've got a big part to play, anyone with a decent sense of vision can tell that much," Rogan explained. I wasn't understanding what he was trying to get at. "Plus, any faun could tell from your smell that you're a pretty powerful demigod, even for a legacy. Not as much as your brother, or your hybrid cousin, but you're still someone I wouldn't want to stand against."

My brother? Surely he didn't mean Jacob. He was 11 years old. Sure, he did a lot better at the Annual Demigod Olympics than I did at my age. But I had to follow through with this current investigation, even at the behest of Mr. Amos and the other elders of the Order of Romulus. Dad would have done the same thing in my situation.

"Okay, tell me what you have," I said, making up my mind.

"There is a catch, however," Rogan said, just as my hopes were getting high. "You can't tell anyone about this. I had to burn a lot of bridges and cross a lot of people to get this information. So don't throw me under the bus by telling anyone this."

"I promise, I won't," I said. I wasn't about to throw away my first real lead so easily.

"There's a mole, a traitor of some kind within the Order," Rogan shared with me.

"That probably explains a lot," I summed. "Do you know who it is?"

"No, but it probably isn't one of the elders," he went on. "Or you."

"Why not me?" I asked. I knew I wasn't a traitor. Sure, going on with this investigation against the orders of my superiors may have pushed me closer to that category, but I wasn't a Desmond Guerrero.

"Because I've watched you your entire life," the faun explained. "If it was you, I would have known by now."

Fair enough. I got up from my chair. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with Rogan's information. But I was done here.

I spent some time walking around New Rome. I wasn't really fond of going back to Centurion's duty, but I went back to Camp Jupiter nonetheless. I went to go inspect the gates, just to avoid Howard. I wasn't in the mood for seeing him and that had made me not want to speak to anyone at the moment.

I was at the Decumanian Gate. I thought about what Rogan said about Jake and our "hybrid cousin," which could have been Gwen, Joanna or Javier. I wasn't sure. But I was worried about my brother. If he was as powerful as Rogan made him out to be, then he might get someone hurt.

After Dad died, Jake took it personally, like I did. But he was at such an early age that its made him so distant and cut off from everyone. He never really spoke to me kindly. And he didn't really regard much of Mom, who also took Dad's death pretty badly.

I felt a little selfish, being the only one in the family who had the video-scroll recordings of him. Maybe if I showed it to them, things might get better. Or they would get worse, being angry at me for not coming forward with this earlier. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. It was like he was still alive, through a long-distance Iris message. And they were all for me. At least I thought they were. There were still so many recordings that hadn't unlocked themselves yet. Maybe when I went through all of them I would show them to Mom and Jake.

But not now.

Just then, something off in the distance caught my eye. The sentry was observing an adjacent sector and hadn't noticed anything. I snapped my eyes to what I thought I saw, but found nothing. The only thing that was over there was the camp entrance to the Caldecott Tunnel. There were sentries on the other side, but I don't think I saw a camper returning to their duties.

"I'm going to go to the tunnel," I told the sentry, as I descended from the gate's palisades.

"Open the gate!" the sentry shouted above as I stood from the inside of the walls. The gate's doors swung open slowly. As I walked through them, I could hear them closing behind me.

It was past midday, but still an hour or so before dusk. Whoever coming out here was probably here for the night duty, if it was a camper. I would find out soon enough.

The Little Tiber stood between me and the Caldecott Tunnel back entrance. Being a legacy of Neptune, this was never really a problem for me. But the river's name was misleading. The Little Tiber was strong. If most people weren't careful enough, it could sweep them away. For those coming to Camp Jupiter for the first time, it was the first of many tests to joining the Twelfth Legion.

Using my god-given abilities, I walked through the water. I could pick up on how powerful the river was. When I emerged from the other side, I was completely dry, just as I had gone in.

Thank gods for Neptune, I wasn't in the mood for changing my clothes.

I cautiously approached the tunnel's entrance. I wasn't exactly armed, so I summoned Vicis. The sword flew into my hand from the air. I was a little worried if it had hit anyone on the way to me. Hopefully the lack of blood on the blade meant that.

Sword drawn, I stepped into the tunnel. The inside served as a sort of camouflage to mortals. It looked like a regular service tunnel. I think I saw a mop once. Since we didn't exactly have magically borders, mortals could simply walk in... after they saw through the Mist and got past the two sentries outside. In short, it wasn't a mistake if anyone who got through the tunnel. All roads did lead to Rome, after all.

I was walking until I heard people coming from the other side of the tunnel ahead of me. Before I could move out of sight, I was pulled away. Whoever was grabbing me had their hand on my mouth, but the captor soon revealed himself.

Evan Pravus put his finger up to his mouth, telling me to be quiet. He must have been the person I saw walking in here. But why? I had to find out, but yet again, I would be too late to execute any action.

"I found them," the Centurion of the Fifth Cohort whispered, pointing to the people in the tunnel. "They're operatives working for the Golden Age Movement."

I had my suspicions about Evan ever since I met him a couple of years back, but now it was clear he wasn't the threat. The operatives down the tunnel were. And they were quickly approaching.

"How do you know its them?" I asked, removing his hand from my mouth. I took a quick look at him. He was dressed for some kind of operation. Maybe tailing these goons was his operation.

"You're not the only cell tracking them," Pravus clarified. I've been using the title of Centurion to get into the city's underworld. I'm almost absolutely sure Thurgood is one of them."

"Fine, how do you want to deal with these guys?" I asked, peeking out from the corner. There were at least half a dozen of them, all geared up for... something. A couple of them were handling some kind of object. It looked a lot like one of Cain Alvarez's thrown bombs, but bigger. "Actually, I think that's a bomb."

"They're going to blow this tunnel shut," Evan quietly reasoned. "But why? Never mind. The Order has to know of this. I think I can hold these guys off."

"I'll go get help," I said, already looking for the right timing to escape the tunnel. If I made a sprint, I would have a head start.

"Katrina," Evan said to me before I left. "Be careful."

I ran for the exit as fast as I could. In the next dozen strides, I was back at the Little Tiber. I decided I would run over the surface of the river to buy me some time. It may have used up my abilities, but it would compensate for distance I was making.

I ditched Vicis before crossing the Pomeranian Line. I didn't want Terminus to think I was some kind of assassin or something. Plus, that would only slow me down.

Mr. Amos would be the first person to tell. I was at his front yard in no time.

But just as I reached to knock the door, I was sent back by a force of explosive energy. I flew back from the blast of an explosion, slamming to the ground yards away.

The blast had knocked me hard. I was phasing in and out of consciousness. First a couple of moments had gone by, then a couple of minutes every time my eyes opened and closed. My whole body hurt, inside and out.

And just before I finally went out, I saw Howard running into view. He dropped to his knees at the sight of his home, completely in ruin and on fire.

I tried calling out to him, but I was only able to make a very light moaning noise. That was all I needed though, because he turned and ran over to my side.

"No, no no no," he said, holding my broken body. It hurt when he put his arms around me. I was slipping back into the void now. "Not you too. Don't leave me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

I was soon encased in darkness. Pain and some form of awareness were the only feelings I had.

I was dead.

_I never knew anyone who described what death felt like. But I was sure I was experiencing it. Dad was there with me. And I knew he died, so I made the only rational decision I could._

_I was dead._

_We stood in the middle of the Senate House. All of the Senators were gathered there for a meeting of some kind. Howard paced back and forth in his part of the room, while Hannah Copperfield sat nervously in her seat near him. She glanced back and forth between him and someone who stood in the center. He was of Latin ethnicity, his hands restrained._

"_Two former Praetors, and a former augur, veteran-defenders of this city... " Howard went off. He stopped and pointed ominously down on the detainee. "What do you have to say for yourself, Cain Alvarez?"_

_My eyes widened in shock. I always had a bad feeling about Cain, a legacy of Discordia and Vulcan, but never anything like this. The last thing I remember was running to the Amos home to warn Mr. Amos about Golden Age Movement operatives in the Caldecott Tunnel before the explosion took me out. But it sounded like it was more than Mr. Amos caught in the bomb. Oh gods. It was the elders of the Order of Romulus. Mr. Amos and Mr. Ward. And Uncle Marcus. Gods, no._

_Scott was right all along. Cain Alvarez was working for the Golden Age Movement. It was his bombs that were being used in the Caldecott Tunnel, after all. And he isn't the type to just hand things over to other people._

_Praetor Hannah Copperfield and Cain were long-time friends. She must have been torn in this situation, with her co-Praetor prosecuting Alvarez like that._

_I stood in the back of the room. As though no one could see me. I had heard something about descendants of Neptune having some kind of clairvoyance abilities, but I had never used them myself._

"_As unpredictable as the ocean itself," Dad muttered to himself. He stood, watching the meeting intently. I had heard the story where he was in the same situation, framed for a murder he didn't commit. The death of a great augur and friend to Mr. Amos. The only difference between Dad and Cain was that one of them was innocent._

"_I didn't do it, jefe!" Cain pleaded to the Praetors then to the Senators behind him. The situation was looking pretty desperate for the Legionnaire, but if he was responsible for the deaths of the Order elders, then he had what was coming to him. Especially since he was a Golden Age Movement turncoat. "I'm being framed! I swear!"_

"_We know you have an outside network in Oakland, Alvarez," Scott declared accusingly. His eyes narrowed in on the traitor, much like a hawk would look on its prey. "You should just start talking while we're all here."_

"_Hey, loco, I said I didn't do it," Cain insisted. "I didn't have anything against your Dad. Or any of them."_

"_Your father was in the Second Cohort during the war with Terra," Scott explained, going back on our parents' generation and their struggles. "But because of some his actions, he killed any chance of making it up there. You were left with the Fourth Cohort."_

"_Oh, is that how it is?" Cain retorted, flaring his nostrils. "You want to get these cuffs off of me and I can show what I think?"_

"_Enough!" Hannah shouted. The room went silent, but Scott and Cain kept glaring at each other. "I won't allow this to be some kind of inquisition. I mean, look at yourselves! We need some time from this so we can approach this situation with clearer heads. I declare a five minute recess."_

_The other Senators began filing out of the room for some much needed air from the tension. Cain was escorted out by the Senatorial Guard. I stayed inside, because Howard and Scott were talking to Hannah._

"_What was that?" Hannah asked Howard. "He hasn't even had a trial yet and already you're throwing him to the wolves."_

"_He is a traitor to not only the Legion, but to New Rome, herself," the Praetor said gruffly._

"_They said the same thing at my trial," Dad interjected. "The kid doesn't have much a chance."_

"_You're too emotionally involved with him for you to make any kind of judgement," Scott said._

"_I'm too emotionally involved?!" Hannah shouted. Both of the boys showed nervous faces for a split second."It was your fathers who were part of that explosion. And it is you two who are making all of the accusations."_

"_What are you saying?" Howard barked._

"_I think... I think both of you need to suspend yourselves from the case," the legacy of Jupiter said. "Especially you, Scott."_

_Scott must have taken that strongly, because he didn't say anything as she left. I then began to realize that maybe it was because he liked her. She was in the Third Cohort, part of Team Tornitruum. And Scott had said he liked a girl from that part of the Legion._

"_I don't get it," Scott said after awhile. Aside from spectral-Dad and I, Scott and Howard were the only ones in the big Senate room._

"_Get what?" Howard asked._

"_We're up against a whole institution or organization of people trying to incite some kind of revolution... " Scott began to explain. "But only now, after they made their first move against us, only one of them shows their face. I don't get it."_

"_You're right," Howard said, touching his chin for a second. "I think the worst has yet to come. We'll have to reorganize after Thurgood is done with his proposal."_

"_Its Thurgood, he's part of the Golden Age Movement!" I tried telling them, but nothing was getting through._

"_Howard is pretty stalwart, but I think he's taking this pretty hard," Dad said. "Both of them are. Scott lost his only parent. I'd imagine his sister is taking it pretty hard too."_

"_Not that I don't appreciate it, Dad," I said. "But why are you here?"_

"_Well, you're not dead," he said jokingly. I was relieved, sort of. I wasn't dead. But I wasn't conscious? "You're having one of those 'out-of-body experiences.' You're pretty tough to kill."_

"_I am your daughter, after all," I half-joked._

"_That's my girl." he smiled. "Come on. We have other things to see."_

_The scene quickly changed. Where there once stood proud Roman pillars and columns were trees and bushes. We were in the middle of the woods. But somehow I knew where we were._

"_Camp Half-blood?" I asked Dad, who seemed to know where he was going. We trekked past a creek and found a camp site._

"_Close, but no," he said. "Remember your cousin Javier was going on vacation with his family?"_

_Just then, Ashley came running out from a tent. She had a teddy bear in her hand as she fled from her older brother, Javier._

"_Rawr!" my hybrid-cousin shouted as he went in pursuit of his younger sister. "I'm a monster and I smell demigod blood!"_

"_Somehow I think Rogan was wrong about these two," Dad muttered. The faun did say that Javier was supposed to be powerful. Ashley and Javier were descendants of two Big Three gods. Their father was a son of Poseidon, while their mother was a daughter of Pluto. Just being a descendant of either one meant that they had a lot of power, but to have both? "Its a shame the Fates will have their way with them. They would've been some pretty powerful Greco-Romans."_

"_What do you mean?" I asked fearfully._

"_Well, our world if full balances," Dad explained. "If someone is too pride, they get put in their place. If someone is too powerful, they get put in their place. Its one of the reasons why Howard has been able to be so good at everything he does. He doesn't have any powers like you or Scott do."_

_But I wasn't understanding him. Why were we here? Sure, I had the ability to see what was going on, but I still didn't know why. Dad's face changed to a grimmer setting._

"_The Fates are about to play their hand," Dad said. "I just hope you're ready for it."_

"_Ready for wha- " I was about to ask._

_Just then, a familiar face emerged from the woods. He was dressed in a dark coat that covered most of his body. There were plates of armor all over it, offering some, but not a whole lot of protection. His boots were covered in mud, showing that he had gone quite the length._

_I quickly came to realize what was going on._

"... there's a mole, a traitor of some kind within the Order... "

".. two former Praetors, and a former augur, veteran-defenders of this city... "

"_... _I have other preparations that my cell needs to take care of... which means I'll be out of town for a couple of days... "

"... I've been using the title of Centurion to get into the city's underworld... "

"... we're up against a whole institution or organization of people trying to incite some kind of revolution... but only now, after they made their first move against us, only one of them shows their face... "

_Evan Pravus, Centurion of the FIfth Cohort, was a traitor to the Order of Romulus, New Rome, and the Twelfth Legion_[/i] Fulminata [i]._ He was the one working for the Golden Age Movement._

_Evan Pravus, who I had last seen before the explosion, stood in the clearing. For what purpose, I did not know. But Dad's tone wasn't making me feel good about this. I had to warn them, get their attention somehow._

"_Evan?" Javier asked, halting in the middle of his monster imitation. Ashley looked a little scared. "W-what are you doing here? Did my request for leave not get through?"_

"_Oh, no, it did," the Centurion clarified. Pravus was Javier's superior, both of them being from the Fifth Cohort. "Which is just the way I want things."_

_Uncle Chris and Aunt Ami soon came into the scene, albeit, pushed forward by a pair of squad of Scythian Dracaenae._

"_Mommy, Daddy!" Ashley shouted in despair. She tried to run for them, but Javier was quick to intercept her._

"_Evan, what are you doing?" the Greco-Roman demigod asked. I wanted to run in there and help them out. "Let them go!"_

"_Sure, just surrender yourself to my friends here," Evan suggested._

"_Javier, take your sister and run!" Uncle Chris commanded. "We can take of it."_

_Uncle Chris and Aunt Ami broke free from their captors. Aunt Ami shadow-traveled toward Evan, engaging in an attack from multiple fronts. Uncle Chris pulled out a Celestial bronze dagger he had in his pocket. He twirled it around, turning it into a full-sized sword. Meanwhile, Javier and Ashley are figuring out which way to run._

_I felt so helpless as I watched my family members fighting for their lives like this. I wanted to take down Evan for his treachery. But I couldn't._

_But as experienced as Uncle Chris and Aunt Ami were, they weren't expecting Pravus' skill. I wasn't. In a twist of movements and slashes, the rogue-Centurion anticipated Aunt Ami's attack and timed his strike. His blade ran through her._

"_Mom!" Javier shrieked in panic. I tried to run to her side as she fell, but Dad got a hold of my arm._

"_I'm sorry, Katrina," he said. "But there's nothing you can do."_

_Uncle Chris was looking at his panicked son. Evan had taken advantage of that window of opportunity, lunging in for the kill._

"_Daddy!" Ashley screamed at the sight of her father's death. I knew exactly how she felt. The memory was still fresh in my mind._

_Uncle Chris fell to the ground, leaving only Javier and his sister against the treacherous murderer. Javier dived for his father's sword and stood to face his Centurion._

"_Ashley, get out of here." Javier commanded, his sword pointing shakily at Evan. "Just keep running and don't stop!"_

"_B-but... " Ashley sobbingly protested._

"_I said go!" the older brother repeated._

_Ashley ran off away from the soon-to-be duel as fast as her little legs could allow. I was in tears by now, but I needed to stay. I needed to know that at least Javier could make a difference._

_He was hopelessly outmatched. Evan was ten years older than him and was far more talented with the sword. Javier was barely getting used to weapons. He had been practicing with his powers and abilities for a long time._

_Which gave me an idea._

_I ran over to Javier, who stood nervously up against Evan._

"_You have to use your powers," I said. Dad didn't stop me this time. But I don't think he had to. Nothing I was saying was getting through._

"_Its hopeless, Javier," Evan said, trying to demoralize the boy. "You should just give up and join me."_

_The Greco-Roman demigod was tearing up defiantly. How could he even say something like that? Especially after he had just killed his parents!_

"_You... you... you!" Javier said. He threw his sword to the ground._

"_Use your powers, Javier!" I shouted. "It's the only way!"_

"_I... I know what I have to do... " he said quietly. I felt like I was getting through. I didn't know, but I was._

_The ground around him began to shake, cracking at various places. Evan looked both amazed and afraid. I had never seen Javier use his powers before. He was the only one of his kind, save for his sister._

_Dark gases spewed out from the cracks. It suddenly felt like the sun was being eclipsed._

"_The power of Pluto," Dad said under his breath in amazement._

_But as awesome as Javier was doing, he couldn't contain his power. His face showed it. And soon, the fissures grew out of control. It was until a large column of pure black energy erupted from the grounded, sending out a shock wave that blew both Javier and Evan away._

_I was thrown off, but not harmed, seeing as I wasn't actually there. I tried to find Javier. Despite his impressive display, he wasn't able to contain his own power._

_The only thing I could was a little girl sobbing. It must have been Ashley. I ran over to where I heard her and found her on the ground crying, mostly from physical pain. During the blast, she must've gotten hit in the eyes. There was so much blood around there, it was hard to tell. Javier, despite what had just happened, was running to his little sister's side. He scooped her up and held her tight._

"_I'm so sorry," he sadly apologized to her. "I didn't what would happen. I lost control. I'm sorry."_

"_Tragedy seems to follow us," Dad said, his voice filled with sadness. It was like watching my life replay itself, just with different scenarios. I didn't want to relieve the experiences._

"_Javi, why can't I see?" Ashley tried to ask through her sobs. He picked up his sister's teddy bear and placed it into her hand. "Why can't I see anything?"_

"_Just hold onto this, okay?" he said, trying to calm her. "Just hold on. You're going to be okay."_

_After taking a glance back, Javier limped away from the scene, his sister, Ashley still in her arms. Despite the pain, she held onto her bear._

"_I'm sorry you had to see this," Dad apologized. I hugged him tightly. That was the only good thing from this whole experience. I got to feel Dad, like he was still alive. But the cost... was too high._

"_How long has it been since the explosion?" I asked Dad, seeing whether or not I could find out what day it was, or whether this was something that had not yet happened._

"_Hard to say," he answered. "Time fluctuates in this state of being."_

_It was hard making sense in this situation. I wasn't sure what the rules were, what was possible, and what was... not possible._

"_Is there anywhere else we're supposed to go?" I asked._

"_For you, yes," he nodded._

"_I'm not going to like it, am I?"_

_Dad didn't give me answer. I don't think he was able to answer things he didn't know. Maybe because he couldn't. Or something. I don't know. I just wanted to wake up or come back from the dead, or die, at the very least. Anywhere but here. I couldn't do anything here, except watch and bear witness to this real tragedy._

_I decided that there wasn't anything left here for me._

"_Let's go," Dad said. He whisked me away to someplace I was able to recognize. It was the Blackhand Halfway House, home to Trent, Ellen, and their families, as well as dozens of other lost demigods. But if Dad brought me here, then something bad was going to happen. I just knew it. I had to do something to stop it._

_But my attention was diverted to a single person, a boy. It was Trent, my Greek cousin._

"_Trent!" I tried calling out to him. "You need to find your parents!"_

"_Huh?" Trent uttered. He turned to face me, but wasn't looking at me, but past me. I turned around to see what he was looking at. My jaw dropped open in awe._

_Although it was an hour into nighttime, I could see a massive horde in the distance. Lebanon, Kansas, was a very small town, so it couldn't be mortals gathering._

"_Oh gods," Trent spoke to himself. He ran back inside. I followed him in. We ran into the main living room, where Aunt Erin and Uncle Jacob were enjoying a night in. A fire was going in the hearth, lighting the room with the constant flicker of its flames. "Mom, Dad. Trouble."_

_The two older demigods must've dealt with similar situations before, because they were up and ready at a moment's notice. We all headed back outside._

"_I could have swore... " Uncle Jacob said to himself, being the last person to exit the building. "Honey, have you seen my sword by any chance?"_

"_Isn't it in your office?" she probed._

"_It was," a newcomer said. She was dressed in leather armor, like the kind from Camp Half-blood. But I didn't see the orange t-shirt. Instead, she held a longsword. I could tell it was no ordinary weapon._

"Disciple,_" Dad pointed out. "Made in the image of its master. Its been used against mortals and demigods alike."_

"_How about we put my sword down," Uncle Jacob calmly insisted._

"_We can talk about this," Aunt Erin tried to calmly negotiate with the thief._

"_Not a chance," the girl said. I know I've seen her from somewhere before. "You two killed my mother, prepare to die."_

"_What are you- " Uncle Jacob said before a blunt object smacked against the side of his skull. The blow was so powerful, I could hear the impact and fracture it made. It was awful. And just like that, Uncle Jacob's lifeless slumped to the ground, his eyes rolling back as he fell._

_Harkin stood over his victim, examining the result of his strength and brutality. He prodded Uncle Jacob's corpse with his foot._

"_JACOB!" Aunt Erin shouted as her husband died on impact. "NO!"_

_And just like before, I was bursting into tears again. Not just because I had lost another family member, but because I couldn't do anything to stop it. I was useless, pathetic, and worthless in this state._

_But it hurt so much to watch my family get killed off like this._

_And just like that, the girl struck down Aunt Erin while she was distracted. Trent stumbled backwards in complete shock. He scrambled towards his dead parents, trying to cling onto their last moments of life._

_But he was too late. They were gone._

_Trent buried his head into his mom's arm, sobbing for a moment. Harkin and the girl were not phased by the tragedy they created._

"_We're done here," Harkin said. He had a very rough voice, which matched his appearance. He had plates of armor across his huge body. If I didn't know any better, I would say he was just an inch or two short of seven feet. Even for a demigod that wasn't normal._

"_What about him?" the girl asked her large friend._

"_Bind him," the brute commanded. "Pravus hasn't contacted me yet. He must've not been able to catch his mark."_

_Trent looked up at the two marauders._

"_I-I recognize you," he said. "You're Tamara Ondrea! You killed my parents!"_

_Harkin knocked him out via boot to the face. At least I hadn't someone else, but I was able to identify some of the key individuals._

_Evan Pravus, Centurion of the Fifth Cohort, traitor to the Order of Romulus, and operative of the Golden Age Movement._

_Harkin, a Greek demigod. Brutish in size and strength. He must've been working with Pravus from the start._

_And Tamara Ondrea, another Greek demigod, except she was a legacy. It sounded like she had some kind of vendetta against Uncle Jacob and Aunt Erin, and naturally, Trent. Because they killed her mother? I wasn't sure about that._

"_Burn the house," Harkin commanded as he walked off. "We've held up our end of the deal, now its time for you to do the same."_

_A bargain. I had to tell someone, anyone. But I couldn't._

_As soon as the flames went up, the screams started. I ran inside to see if I could help. Anything to make up for my inaction thus far._

_Ellen Maka, my cousin through our shared grandfather, Mars, Ares for her, was up and about trying to help the children escape. A boy my age came through hallway._

"_Daniel!" Ellen called out. "Do you know what's going on?"_

"_You're not going to like it," the Greco-Roman demigod told her. Daniel Oak was the legacy of the Greek Apollo, through his father, Jeremiah Oak, and Venus, through his mother. He was also Trent's best friend. I could trust her with him. "The Eastern road is blocked off by an army of monsters. I've never seen so many before."_

"_What do we do?" she asked her Greco-Roman cousin._

"_We make a run for it," he suggested. "We head West, to Camp Jupiter."_

"_What if they don't help us?"_

"_They don't have to," Daniel explained. "But they can't ignore a hostile army right outside New Rome."_

_The scene blurred until it dissolved completely from sight. I had hoped they made it out alright. The environment reformed itself to another familiar setting._

_Dad and I stood on Half-blood Hill at Camp Half-blood, home of the Greek demigods. A sleepy dragon coiled around a single tree near us. Campers were milling about as usual, like they had when I was over there for the summer tournament._

_Dad led me to the Big House. Like before, no one seemed to take notice of us, like we weren't even there._

"_Hey, Abigal, did you hear about Javier?" one of the campers asked another._

"_Yes, Joshua," Abigal answered. They looked similar enough to be siblings. "Lily said he would be alright, but... his sister... "_

"_She didn't look so good when he brought her in," Joshua commented. "Did he say what caused it?"_

"_No, he was too busy trying to keep his sister calm," Abigal said sadly. Oh gods. They don't know. "Lily said he was in shock. Whatever put them through that... I don't know."_

"_Don't worry," Joshua reassured her. "I won't let anything happen to my sister."_

"_Thanks," she said gratefully._

"_I wish you and your brother were like that," Dad commented. I wanted that too. "Let's move on."_

_We continued to the Big House. By a stroke of coincidence... or luck, there was a meeting being held._

_I followed Dad into the basement of the building, where several campers were gathered around a ping-pong table. Blake Courtenay sat at the head, with Wyatt Ward, Scott's cousin, and Logan Osborne, another cousin of mine, sitting on both of sides. Other campers there were Layla Lobo, Lily Rhiley, and Cameron Smith. Joshua and Abigal came in after us._

"_Strange, the people who usually who show up to these meetings are cabin leaders," Dad noted. "Unless you're Chiron or Mr. D."_

"_Sorry for showing up late," Joshua apologized, taking his seat next to his sister._

"_So what's this meeting suppose to be about anyway?" Logan asked. "I was about to break in the new training dummies."_

"_Psh, its not like you'd do any damage, cuz," Wyatt asserted jokingly._

"_Oh yeah, says you?" Logan challenged._

"_Uh, yeah me," the legacy of Dionysus and Poseidon declared. "Who won the silver? Oh that's right, this guy!"_

"_That's because Cam was cool enough to give you a second chance for gold," Logan clarified. "Which you still managed to fail to obtain. Case closed."_

"_Says the guy who got fifth place," Dennis snickered. Some of the campers couldn't help but giggle._

"_Now boys... " Layla stepped in, diverting Wyatt's attention. "Blake didn't bring us here to argue about past battles."_

"_Oookay, tenth place," Lily joked, causing the whole room to burst into laughter, except Blake. He had a serious face, which was pretty reminiscent of Howard. The two of them were opposite in almost every way, making it hard for me to see him like this. "Um... so what did you want to talk about, Blake?"_

_The de facto leader of Camp Half-blood took a moment to gather his words before speaking. The feeling of the room soon changed to match his expression._

"_Last night, I- " he said, before an Iris-message appeared on the table. A long figure was making the call._

"_Greetings, Camp Half-blood," Evan Pravus greeted through the Iris-message. The faces of the campers went into disbelief. "My name is Evan Pravus and I am the leader of the Golden Age Revolution... "_

"_Layla, Wyatt, get Chiron and the teachers," Blake commanded, before turning his attention back to Pravus. "Now."_

"_... For millennia the Greeks and Romans have stood against each other," Evan explained. "Under my guidance and leadership can we truly build a lasting peace, which is why I'm offering you a choice, Blake Courtenay, as well as all of you. Surrender your camp and join me. Already, my armies have the capability to wipe you all out in a single, fell swoop. But I am a merciful leader. Pledge your allegiance to me and you all see a returned golden age."_

"_This isn't something we can decide without some forethought," Joshua commented. Abigal nodded. They must've been some kind of descendants of Athena to take a moment and ask for time like that._

"_He's right," Blake said. "We'll need time, so we can get everyone informed and all."_

"_You have three days," the turncoat announced threateningly. "I will be seeking your answer by the end of the third. Choose wisely."_

_The message faded, leaving a very critical group of demigods._

"_We're not going to side with him, are we?" Cameron asked innocently._

"_No, of course not," Blake decided. If there was one thing I could link between Howard and Blake, it was that they were both leaders. It looked as if the others here looked to Blake for leadership. He seemed up for the job. "But we'll have to prepare for this 'revolution'."_

"_Good, I was getting tired of the training dummies, anyway," Logan commented._

_In a couple of moments, Chiron and a couple of adults, most of whom I could recognize, came through. Uncle Dennis, who was Wyatt's Dad, was one of the combat trainers. Mr. Lobo, Layla's Dad, did a Monsters 101 class. Aunt Kori, Ellen's Mom was there by chance._

"_We couldn't find Mr. D," Wyatt said sadly, who just had happened to be his grandson._

"_Blake, why have you summoned us?" Chiron asked. Unknown to most people who aren't demigods, Chiron was the teacher of many great Greek heroes. That, and he's over 1000 years old._

"_We've got a problem," Blake said, just as the scene changed again._

_I was beginning to get sick, with all the jumping around from place to place like this. But when we arrived to the next destination, I took a moment to catch my breath. It was dark and small, like a room meant for one person._

_It was then that I saw myself, lying unconscious in a bed, with needles and tubes hooked up. It was a little strange, seeing yourself lie there like that, when I'm standing right here, not so far away. I noticed there was someone sitting by my side, talking to me._

"_... and now they've revealed themselves," Howard told the other me. I was surprised he was here. "Thurgood is the acting leader of the Golden Age political party. Dad would be so disappointed in me... if he were still here. I think I'm beginning to know how you feel."_

_Oh, Howard. I've never seen this side to him before. Underneath that rigid surface was a sensitive being._

"_... but I still haven't figured something out," the Praetor stated. "Why were you headed for my house? Was there something you needed to tell my Dad? They were having a meeting, did you... no. I still haven't figured that out. I need your help. I feel something very bad is waiting for me, for all of us here. I don't think this is going to be something I can take care of on my own."_

"_Praetor Amos, there's another visitor waiting," an orderly said to Howard._

"_I understand," he replied, getting up from his seat. "Don't forget me, Katrina."_

_Howard stopped at the door, where his face turned into an expression of surprise._

"_Oh, Mrs. Darrow, I.. " Howard began to say. "I'm sorry."_

_She nodded quietly and let him pass. I wasn't expecting Mom to be here, so I waited and listened to what she had to say._

"_Kat... " Mom sighed. She put her hand on mine, squeezing it even now and then. The weird thing was that I could actually feel it a little. "I miss you so much. I know I haven't been doing a very good job lately, but... but I need you to come back."_

_This was hard coming from her, I could tell. She hasn't been very involved or even very much alive for that matter._

"_Your Grandfather recently contacted me," she explained. One of the gods contacting a demigod wasn't very common, especially in this day and age. There used to be a time when the gods and their demigod children teamed up against Saturn and Krios and later Terra. But now since monster attacks were at an all-time low in the era, there wasn't much need for communication. They weren't the kind of people to make regular house calls, from what the veterans tell me. In this day and age, demigods had to go and search for monsters, instead of constantly being harassed by them. "He wants me help him with a important quest."_

_And then there were quests. The Greeks held quests in high regard, being the only true way of testing a demigod. Their quests were usually given by someone called the Oracle. I don't think I've met that person before._

_In Camp Jupiter, a Centurion like Scott Ward or myself had to partake in the quest group, after a prophecy was given by the augur, who also happened to be Scott. The Romans and Greeks were so don't different, its just all this bad blood we've had for awhile, like 1000 years of it._

"_I can't leave your brother," she continued. "Not like this. You're going to be the one to save him. Not because I don't want to, but because I know you will. He loves, even if he doesn't show it. He just needs someone to look up to. Be that example for him."_

_As much as I was starting to sob in front of my mother, I knew I didn't want Jake to end up like me. I was half-dead, with no signs of when I was going to recover. Plus, I failed at everything I tried to accomplish. The investigations with the Golden Age Movement, for example. They're a full-blown political party now, a physical testament to my failure. And then I was harboring secrets my family. Secrets about things that maybe they would appreciate to know._

_I was the wrong person for the job._

"_Despite what you may have thought about your mother, she does love you," Dad said from behind me, placing his hands on me shoulders. "She and I were... tied, and part of her died when I did. My absence hasn't been easy for her or any of you, which is why you have to cut her some slack."_

_Whatever I must have felt when he died, she must have felt it too, maybe even worse. This only reinforced the idea of me being an example for Jake a really, really bad one. I knew I was about to leave again soon when Dad took his hands off of my shoulders. But I wanted to stay here, maybe try to find some way to... make up for past mistakes, if that was possible._

_I was beginning to think I was being able to see the things that I had seen for a reason. Not that I actually wanted to, especially the death of family members, but maybe there was a particular reason for all these things that were happening. I just didn't know it yet._

_We were at the base of Half-blood Hill. It felt like it was already late in the afternoon. It also felt very warm, even for a summer day. I trekked up to the top of the hill and found out why._

_In front of lay a wasteland of what was Camp Half-blood. It was a horrifying sight to look upon, but this was what Evan Pravus had warned of. Every cabin was burnt to the ground, or left in the skeleton of its frame. Columns of smoke rose from everywhere, making it hard to breath. I was completely held in awe by the carnage an army could make._

_It reminded me of the Field of Mars, after an extensive War Game. But this was so much more... permanent. Back at Camp Jupiter, we would just renovate the field to fit our design. But this was a home... for so many. I had never felt so useless before. If I could have just warned them about Pravus earlier, then they might have had a chance, maybe relocate._

_No, this was their home. They couldn't, wouldn't, abandon it, no matter who they faced._

_I decided I would go see if anyone was alive. Despite all the destruction, there weren't any bodies. Nor was there any blood. Did they run? I wasn't sure, but from what I could tell, something powerful had laid waste to the cabins._

"_Use your war senses," Dad suggested. What? "You're a descendant of Mars, the war god. You can pick up on things on the battlefield better than others."_

_Right._

_I looked around the field of destruction. I had heard about William Tecumseh Sherman, a general for the Union during the American Civil War. Unknown to most people, he was a Greek son of Ares who burnt down everything he encountered. But Pravus' destruction of Camp Half-blood made Sherman's March look like a duck walk. Somehow, I just knew it._

"_War senses," Dad chimed in. He didn't know what he was talking about. I didn't know what he was talking about. I didn't want to._

_I stopped when I head the sound of many feet running. I saw Mr. Courtenay and Uncle Dennis in the front of a group of campers. They looked relatively unscathed._

"_Keep moving guys," Uncle Dennis said to the campers, but the expression on his face said that he too was in awe of the utter destruction of his home. "Come on, we need to keep moving."_

"_But Mr. Ward," one of the campers spoke up. "Where are we going?"_

"_Away from here," Mr. Courtenay interjected. "Let's go."_

_Their column of campers, guided by adult demigods, advanced around Half-blood Hill, instead of over it. They must've been trying to avoid being detected by Pravus. Was his army really that powerful?_

_Another column of camper was led by Greek demigods my age. Mostly, it was the people I had seen at the meeting before Pravus' attack._

"_Gods of Olympus," Lily Rhiley uttered. "What could have caused this?"_

"_Whatever it was, that Pravus guy is gonna pay," Logan Osborne cursed. "Still, I can't believe we all managed to fit in there."_

"_Bunker Nine was built during the American Civil War," Joshua Masterson commented. "It was designed to hold off against any possible attacks the Romans might have made."_

"_Speaking of which, we're going to get them to help us, right?" Abigal asked Blake, who once again, the de facto leader. "I'm sure we can get Katrina to help us. She's a Roman, with Roman friends."_

_Sorry, Layla. I don't think I would do much good out of a hospital bed._

"_Maybe my cousin Scott could help us out," Wyatt suggested. "My Uncle Clancy runs a clinic in their city. He could help us with any of our wounded."_

_Gods. They don't even know. The situation was worse than I thought._

"_What about Trent?" Layla asked. Some of the others poked fun at her for bringing him up. I guess there may have been something going on. I wouldn't know. "What? Don't his parents have a place for lost demigods, Greek or Roman?"_

"_Blake, what about- " Cameron was about to ask his cousin, but stopped himself. "Nevermind."_

"_We're headed for the Blackhand Halfway House," Blake told his friends. "Maybe Trent and his family can help us out once we get there."_

_No, Blake. Don't go there! There's nothing left, if not Harkin and Tamara Ondrea, and their part of Pravus' army. It was a trap if I ever saw one!_

_But they kept on walking. Walking to their doom._

_I stopped in my tracks when I realized there was nothing I could do for them. I was but a ghost who got to constantly relive the memory of losing someone important._

_The scene around me collapsed into darkness. I stood on nothing but a road with two paths. On my left was a path that kept on going and going. I felt some kind of warmth there, like there was something familiar waiting for me there. At first I wanted to go there, but the other road had piqued my curiosity as well. The road on the my right felt dangerous and short. There was nothing I could feel consistent there. As bad as it sounded, it felt like my way only way out._

_It seems Dad had wanted to say something, because he was standing between both paths, facing me._

"_You've done something very extraordinary, Katrina," Dad congratulated me. "Most people would die going through what you went through. But you survived it. Do you know why?"_

_I shook my head. To be honest, I didn't know why. I didn't think I was special._

"_There is a part of you that keeps fighting, no matter the cost," he explained. "Because of it, you've managed to avoid death... this time. But now you must choose."_

"_Choose what?" I asked. Maybe he was referring to the paths in front of me._

"_You have to decide what your next action in this state will be," Dad answered. "You've seen a very great deal of events in this state. You must decide what you will do with it."_

"_That's easy, I'll just choose to wake up and tell everyone what I saw," I said. It was easy enough, but Dad's expression suggested otherwise._

"_Decisions are never easy, Katrina, remember that," Dad corrected. "You can choose to wake up and face the world you now know exists, including all of those you witnessed losing. But you will also have the opportunity to spread the word of what you have seen."_

_Surely, this was the best option. I couldn't just wait around here forever and watch everyone I love die. If there was an opportunity for me to do something, then I would take it. It was the only way I could prevent anyone else from dying. Javier, Ashley, Trent, Howard, Scott, Wyatt, Logan, Blake, all of them. I don't know why I felt I had to save them, but it just seemed like the natural thing for me to do._

_But I had to know what the other option was._

"_What's the other choice?" I asked. There was always a catch, a drawback to each decision. They were never easy, as Dad had just said. "What would I be doing instead of waking up?"_

"_You can stay here," Dad said simply. "You can create the perfect world, where no one has died. Where all is right and people like Evan Pravus never exist."_

"_I would be stuck here forever?" I inquired. It was sounding good except for one detail._

"_Your physical form would wither and decay over time, but your spirit and soul would remain intact here," Dad explained. "Yes, you would be here forever. But time would not matter in a world that you have created. You can be with me, your family and friends."_

_I was immediately torn when the idea of being back together with Dad was presented. If I stayed here, it wouldn't matter if everyone else died, because my body would be dead anyway. Plus, in my world, they wouldn't be dead. They would all be alive. Uncle Chris and Aunt Ami, and Uncle Jacob and Aunt Erin. Even Uncle Marcus and Mr. Amos and Mr. Ward. I could accomplish any goal with no obstacles in my way. Everyone would be happy._

_Everyone except me. How selfish would it be if I passed up the opportunity to save gods know how many lives. While I may enjoy the idea of being with Dad, I don't think other people would want their fates to be decided by me, wether it was in the real world, or if it was in the world I created._

"_The longer you deliberate, the shorter the window of opportunity you will have to make a decision" Dad warned, making the already difficult choice even more difficult._

_Do I choose to stay and condemn myself to a fantasy world of no pain, no sadness? Or do I choose to leave this state and face the unknown?_

_It was hard decision to make, but the choice was clear._

"_I... I choose to live," I said after taking a couple of moments to decide. I felt I was going to regret making either decision, but this one felt right, deep down. "I want to leave this place. I need to leave this place."_

"_So be it," Dad said blankly. I felt he would say the same thing if I had chose otherwise. The path on my left began to crumble and vanish into nothing, removing any thought of turning back. "Now, walk the path you have decided."_

_I did as he said and started going down that path. I stopped after taking a few steps._

"_Before I go, will I ever- " I said as I turned back to face Dad. There was nothing there anymore. "... see you again."_

_My eyes were starting to water, but I wiped them off. This was one of the consequences of my choice and I had to live with it. Or in this case, without. Still, I hadn't enjoyed getting to be with Dad, just to have him suddenly leave... again._

_I started back on my path after gathering myself. The experience was... difficult to say the least. I think if I would have gone through this earlier in my life, I would have probably decided to stay. But that was in the past. The only thing in front of me was the future..._

_The path below me suddenly collapsed, plunging me into a deep abyss. I felt the cold rush of descent go through me. In my fall, I had never felt so scared. Did I make the wrong decision? Was there really no chance of me escaping and by trying so, I would be punished like this?_

_Nothing would be the same from here on out._

I awoke with a sharp gasp for air, a shock that ran through my system as I jolted to life in my hospital bed. I was... alive, as far as I could tell. I covered my face with my hands and began to sob deeply. It wasn't just because I was sad, but because I was alive. I was glad to be alive. But I was sad to lose Dad again. I was back in the world where I didn't get to make the rules. Leaving Dad behind was one of them. Warning the others was another.

I wasted no time making good on the choice I made. But as soon I tried to stand, I fell to the floor. The experience may have taken quite awhile, draining my body in the meantime. I had never felt more exhausted. Plus, I don't think I had quite fully recovered from the bomb's explosion. I could feel the pain of my sustained injuries, as I got myself back up on my feet.

"I will not be held down," I told myself. The consequences of the alternative spurred me on with enough motivation to work my way out of the hospital, even if it meant leaning on the wall the whole way out.

After the explosion, I was relocated to Mr. Ward's clinic, which wasn't that far away from the Senate House. I figured that would be the first place to go to. They had to hear what I had to say.

Apparently most people in New Rome had never seen anyone miraculously recover from a near-death experience. They were giving me the weirdest looks as I stumbled through town in my hospital gown. Some of them cheered my return to the land of the living, some gasped and murmured to one another, others feared I was the beginning of a zombie apocalypse. I would have to remember that one.

Did I mention how much stairs sucked when you just woke up from some coma? The Senate House stairs were supposedly a symbol of how far someone would have to ascend to get within its chambers, both figuratively and literally. I hated the latter, but I pressed on, nonetheless.

I wasn't exactly sure what topic or matter the Senate was convening about, but I put a stop to that as soon as I walked in. There was a muteness that bound the room. Howard and Scott, Howard especially, showed a hint of joy for my return.

"Cain Alvarez didn't do it!" I declared while standing near the center of the room. "I can prove it."

"I didn't what, I mean yeah!" Cain said. "I didn't do it! _¡Gracias dioses!_"

"Um, not that I'm glad you're alive, but... " Jade Cramer began to say. She was a legacy of Mars and Khione, as well being as Centurion of the Third Cohort. She stepped up after Hannah Copperfield became Praetor, I didn't get to see her much due to her busy schedule. "Weren't you, um... dead?"

"Sorry to disappoint you," I retorted. "But I was only mostly dead."

A collective laughter ran through the Senate.

"If you have proof in defense of _probatio_ Alvarez, then you should probably present it," Howard said sarcastically, yet still somehow nicely. "We were in the middle of his case."

"Right, sorry about interrupting," I quickly apologized. "Cain Alvarez is innocent because he wasn't the person to plant the bombs. It was Evan Pravus."

A collective gasp, followed by murmurs, ran through the room. Pravus must've been the last person on everybody's minds as the person behind the bombing.

"Do you have any sort of proof?" Hannah Copperfield asked me. And I had an answer for her.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," I stated. "While I was unconscious I had a series of visions... "

Maybe that wasn't the right pitch to go on. Still, it was the only thing I really did have to go with. Howard and Scott both face-palmed themselves, a clear indicator I wasn't getting anywhere.

"So we're going with dreams being sufficient proof?" Dwayne Coll protested. He was one of the Centurions of the Fourth Cohort, as well as being a legacy of Pluto and Minerva. Seriously, I wasn't sure how all these people were coming from this Minerva lineage. She wasn't even supposed to have kids, for crying out loud! "Well then I had a dream that Cain Alvarez was the one who did it. How about that, huh?"

The Senate burst into laughter, minus Scott and the Praetors. Things weren't looking so good.

"And I had a dream that says Hannibal should be Praetor," Devin Coll, the other Centurion of Fifth Cohort, as well as the twin brother of Dwayne, said. It would have been to tell the twins apart if it were not for one of them having a goatee and the other being clean shaven. Devin was the goateed one. "But in all seriousness, we can't just let you take a shot at a true Roman like that. He doesn't deserve that."

"Speaking of which, where is our illustrious friend, I wonder?" I asked aloud, trying to prove a point.

"He's been on temporary leave," Howard answered. "Vacation time, pretty much."

Darn. I had to rethink my strategy, which was not something I had planned for.

"I saw him kill Javier Beas' parents," I said quickly, which I immediately regretted saying, because there was another collective gasp within the Senate. This time, it was more in the context of disgust... with me. "But its not just that. He had this huge army of... I don't know what, but it was powerful enough to burn down Camp Half-blood to the ground."

"Impossible, there haven't any sightings of monsters in any sort of quantity in years!" Centurion Thurgood interjected.

"He wasn't acting alone," I clarified. "There was a Greek, named Harkin. He led an assault on the Blackhand Halfway House. Its also burnt to the ground."

Now they started laughing. This wasn't going well at all. It was times like these I wish I had decided to stay in my mind... forever. It didn't look like I was doing a good job at convincing the Senate.

"Okay, that's enough," Hannah said, standing up. "Five minute recess."

"Let me know when we start acting by traditional Roman customs," Thurgood snided, leaving the room with the other members of the Senate. Cain was escorted by the Senatorial Guard, leaving just the Praetors and the augur.

"Darrow, I'm glad you've recovered from your injury," Hannah began to say. "But you've must have hit your head pretty hard if you think you can just barge in here and starting throwing wild accusations. I'm going to let you off easy, in faith of our great friendship, and let you go home and think about how you're going to present yourself to New Rome. Do I make myself clear?"

"But I was telling the truth!" I protested. I think she was trying to get back at me for... whatever. "I'm not making this stuff up."

"That's it," she said. "You're obviously not going to submit to authority gracefully, so I am forced to- "

"Whoa whoa, lets not get too hasty... " Scott said, trying to defend me. "Surely she doesn't need to get reprimanded for a minor misdemeanor like this?"

"Accusing someone without any tangible evidence is no misdemeanor, augur," the blond Praetor stated. Scott must've took that one a little too hard, because he sighed disappointingly. "I suggest you help your friend see reason, Praetor."

Hannah stormed off, leaving just Howard, Scott, and myself. I was starting to get a little cold in my hospital gown.

"She has a point," Howard stated. "This is a serious accusation. He is one of our own, after all. Is there any kind of physical proof that he did it?"

I thought for a moment. Sure, Camp Half-blood and the Blackhand Halfway House were in ruins, but that didn't necessarily mean that Pravus was the one behind it.

"There are bombs in the Caldecott Tunnel," I answered, trying to recall the events leading up to the bombing. I was in a rush, making most of the memories a little blurry. Plus, I wasn't exactly well. "If they haven't gone off already... "

Howard and Scott exchanged glances.

"That must've been what caused the recent cave-in," Scott theorized. Gods, damn it! Pravus was everywhere. He must have been planning and calculating this years in advance. "Nobody was hurt, but the rubble is going to take weeks, possibly months, to remove. Some people thought it was a sign of the gods abandoning us."

"Now we know better," Howard commented. "But that doesn't mean Pravus did it. It must've been the Golden Age political group."

"What, you mean they're... known by everyone now?" I asked. I thought I had heard Howard saying something about them during my out-of-body experience, but it was still pretty blurry trying to remember.

"Yeeeah, they sort of went public right after the bombing," Scott interjected. "They're probably trying to add insult to injury."

"Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we can move on Pravus," Howard summarized, much to my dismay. "We would need a whole lot more than what you have to accuse someone like him, especially one of our own."

"But we have to!" I insisted. I can't believe that Howard, of all people, wasn't getting on board. I mean, Pravus killed his Dad! He had to retaliate. "Its the perfect plan. Someone from within the Order and somebody who's liked by just about everyone. Its all too convenient for it not to be him!"

"He's liked by everyone, except Thurgood and the Golden Age Movement," Howard corrected. I couldn't believe this. I felt like I had wasted an opportunity, the only opportunity. Javier and Ashley, and the Greeks would get wiped out, because nobody would believe me. "We can only pin Cain Alvarez to the crime. The bombs were of his signature make, even he admitted to it."

"But its not him!" I shouted. "Howard, you need to believe me. If anything, take my word on this. Please. I'm begging you to take action."

Howard gave me a hardened look for a moment. He was weighing the consequences of either decision, something I was all too familiar with. But he began to look torn about having to make that decision. I think he wanted justice, revenge, or at least the very least, some kind of compensation for the death of his father. I would too, if my dad was killed like that. But at the cost of so much? I don't know.

"Howard... " I tried to say. "Please, don't condemn the Greeks to their doom."

Just then, Hannah came running back into the Senate room. She looked out of breath, as if she had been running for awhile, or if it was just the stairs. It was probably just the stairs. But she looked like she was in a hurry.

"Amos, we've got company," Hannah said between breaths. "I'll need you to come with me to greet them in the full outfits."

By tradition, a Praetor was to wear their robes and armor while performing their duties. But with all the stuff that was going on, they went somewhat casual with their attire. Howard himself looked like a mess, to be honest. But that was only because of what had happened to his father.

"Who are they?" Scott asked, keeping up with the Praetors who were storming back to the Principia, their office building. "I should probably throw on my augur robes, just for old times sake."

"No need," Hannah answered. "Because they're refugees. Greeks and Romans. From the Black Hand Halfway House."

Howard and Scott froze in their tracks and looked back at me. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was smirking.

"I told you so," I said.

"We'll see about that," Hannah commented.

While the others went to see the Blackhand Halfway House refugees, I went to get some real clothes. It felt nice to be in some that wasn't so drafty. Seriously, if the cold atmosphere doesn't give you the chills, then the climate will. After getting a change of clothes on, I took the Via Praetoria, the main road, all the way to the Pomerian Line.

By instinct, the Legion had mobilized and guarded the road from the refugees from the outside of the boundary line. It was a sacred tradition that no weapons be carried within the limits of the city, mostly because of what happened to Julius Caesar. How the Senatorial Guard managed to get by without Terminus, our local border control god.

Its not that they didn't trust refugees, its just that they wanted to protect New Rome. It has been home for over a dozen of generations for Roman demigods and legacies here in America, if not longer. The Greeks had Camp Half-blood, but we had Camp Jupiter, and New Rome. It was the place where all of our history and culture culminated. The fact that descendants are often referred to as "legacies" shows that the city is in our heritage.

Plus, I got frozen yogurt for free with the title of Centurion.

The crowd was big, at least a couple of dozen lost demigods, or those who were "in transition." The Halfway House was a great way of helping a demigod get to their perspective camp. So most of them had probably never seen a camp for demigods, and that usually meant they had never seen New Rome. From that crowd I recognized a welcomed face.

"Ellen!" I shouted in happiness as I ran to greet my Greek cousin. I was so glad that she was alright, hugging was my way of showing it. "I'm so happy you're safe!"

"Me too!" Ellen exclaimed. "It was terrible."

One of the refugees walked up to the Praetors. He looked familiar.

"That's Daniel Oak," Ellen pointed out. Ah, that's right. The Greco-Roman one. "He's a cousin of mine."

"Praetors," Oak saluted the two commanding officers of the Legion. They were dressed in the Imperial Golden armor with flowing, purple togas. It looked difficult to walk in, but the two managed to pull it off. That was one of the reasons I didn't want to be Praetor, not that I ever would. The other was of course, the workload. Plus, they weren't allowed to partake in the War Games. Those were fun. And I liked having fun. "_Probatio_ Oak requesting an audience with the Senate. There's been a situation."

"Are you the one who led them here?" Hannah asked. "Because if there were any fewer Romans, we would've taken this as an invasion or attack of some kind."

"Apologies, madame Praetor," Daniel apologized. "But no, there are others, Greeks, who helped bring the children here."

"Right, we should bring them up as well," Howard said. "I'll get the Senate together."

"Um, Praetors, if I may," the legacy of Apollo and Venus requested. "We've walked across half the nation. Most of us are small children. Could we possibly seek shelter within the city? I don't think most of them would survive another night outside."

Howard and Hannah exchanged looks.

"_Probatio,_ I don't think there is a group as big as yours," Howard stated. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you."

"But sir... I-I understand," Daniel submitted. No flipping way. I wasn't going to let this happen, especially after what they've been through.

"If there aren't any shelters to house them, then I volunteer to let them stay at my place," I said stepping forward. "... Praetors."

"Katrina what are you doing?" Howard asked me after pulling us aside. "You are in no condition to be making decisions like this."

"I could say the same about you," I retorted, hitting below the belt. "But seriously, why are you behaving like this?"

"If what you're saying is true, then we have to prepare the space for Roman casualties," Howard explained. He never was the person to show favoritism, but I saw where he was coming from. Still, it wasn't right. We weren't going to be in this alone, so why should we strain our relationship with the Greeks? "Its my duty as Praetor protect New Rome and its citizens, above all else."

"Really, at the cost of these people's safety?" I replied. "I thought you were better than that."

"We'll talk about this later," Howard promised. "I won't deny your claim to house them."

"Well, that's a start," I muttered.

I was really beginning to regret making the decision on coming back.

Back at the Senate House, we convened with some of the refugees from the Black Hand Halfway House. Daniel and Ellen were the only people I could easily identify, which may or may not create problems later. I had hoped Mom would be okay with adopting two and a half dozen kids for a little while. That is, if she hadn't already left. The idea of having to take care of that many kids at once scared me. Maybe it was cheaper by the two and a half dozen?

My vision was basically relayed back to me. I had seen it happen, sort of, so the eyewitness accounts seemed repetitive. Still, it was nice to get some real evidence for once. The Senate, for the most part seemed pretty convinced... that the Greek demigods, Harkin and Tamara Ondrea were behind the attack, but not Evan Pravus.

"I couldn't really hear what they said when they were talking to each other," Daniel testified. "But I do know who they were. The big guy, Harkin was from Cabin 11. Its, uh, not just for children of Hermes, er Mercury, but for demigods who aren't claimed by their godly parent. He's never been claimed yet, as far as I know."

"But the other one, the girl," Ellen spoke up. "She's the daughter of Ruth Ondrea, the last child of Enyo. And since there isn't an Enyo Cabin, she stayed in Cabin 11."

"So, it was natural if they were acquainted with one another," Daniel finished.

The Senate discussed long and hard on whether the threat was from just those two, or the Greeks as a whole. As a Centurion, I was part of the discussion, but everyone was shutting me down. This time, the advisory panel of veterans was present. They didn't actually ask any questions, but rather sat and observed. There were three empty seats, in memory of the men who were killed in the bombing, furthering how much resentment I was feeling for Pravus.

Further debating led to little development. It wasn't until I remembered something from Dad's video scrolls.

"Wait, what about our peace charter with the Greeks?" I asked aloud. All eyes turned to me. "Doesn't it mean we have to help the Greeks if they're in trouble?"

"I'm surprised anybody remembers that," one of the advisory panel members said from behind me. I turned back to look at who said it. It was Mom. She gave me wink. I smiled back. "Yes, the peace charter states that the Legion has to send aid to the Greeks when they are in conflict with an enemy. I would know, I was there to sign it."

"I think the choice is very clear," Uncle Darrien commented. I knew he agreed that we should help the Greeks, especially since his full-sister was one. "Will the Legion send aid to the Greeks, or will they, at the behest, deny that aid?"

"We'll take a vote," Howard decided. Hannah nodded her head in approval. "All in favor of sending aid?"

A lot of hands rose from the Senate and the advisory panel. Mom, Uncle Darrien, and Mr. Copperfield were some of the people who approved the notion of the support effort. Most of these people must've had positive experiences with the Greeks. I know I have. I had forgotten Mom was one of the people to sign the peace charter, but I was glad she supported us helping them.

"All those who oppose sending aid?" Hannah asked.

A couple of hands rose from both the Senate and the advisory panel. Some people just didn't like the Greeks, others like Howard, placed Roman interests above all else. Those who wanted to help the Greeks were facing a lot of opposition in the Senate House. The two primary people to oppose this were Devin and Dwayne Coll. The idea of us supporting the Greeks may lead to the truth about Pravus, and they wanted to protect it.

"The ayes have it," Howard announced. There were mixed emotions in the room. Some were happy and glad that we were living up to our agreement, I knew Daniel and Ellen were. But then there those, like the Colls who were not happy with the outcome. "I will lead a detachment of the Legion and investigate Camp Half-blood. If we end up walking into a trap, it won't be all of us that get caught in it. Names for the detachment will posted within the hour. I want all of you mobilized in the meantime. Except you, Centurion Darrow. You just woke up from a ten day coma. You're staying."

"Its okay, honey," Mom whispered from behind me. "You did well, but now you have to let them do their part."

For a second, Mom's words reminded me of Dad. It was a good feeling. But she was right. I just woke up from a coma which lasted... too long. I was glad that people were finally starting to take action. But now I needed my rest.

When we got back home, we renovated the house to support two and a half dozen more people. For the most part, these demigods didn't have a home, and the one they did have, they had to watch it burn down. Helping them out was the least we could do. Plus, I needed to go over some details with Ellen and Daniel.

"I know Trent was taken by them," I said when I was able to get them alone. Most of the kids had gone to sleep after getting them fed and clothed. Plus it took awhile to get around to finding enough blankets for them. "And I know Harkin and Tamara are working with Evan. But I don't know why."

"Uh, how do you know this?" Ellen asked. "Not that I don't believe your or anything."

"When I was in a coma, I had an... out-of-body experience," I replied. It was hard to explain, but I tried my best. "I was able to see what was happening in different places at different times. It was... weird."

"That's not surprising if you think about it," Daniel commented. "Descendants of Neptune are sometimes known for their clairvoyance abilities when their physical body isn't operating. Anyway, so you think Evan Pravus is behind it?"

I nodded my head.

"He's really well liked by everyone in the Legion and by New Rome," Daniel commented again. "Not exactly the person I was counting on, but okay. I'll trust you on that."

"Daniel, stop being rude," Ellen chided. "Sorry, he's been kind of jerk ever since Trent was abducted."

"I know the feeling," I consulted. "I know what its like to lose someone."

"Its not just that... my parents," he began to say. "They didn't make it out. They stayed behind."

"Daniel, I'm so sorry," I said. I knew what it was like to lose a parent, but both of them at the same time? And murdered? No, I didn't know the feeling. I only knew what it was like to watch.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I'll be fine. But I don't know how you plan on taking Pravus down. He's still supposedly on temporary leave. And he has a giant of a demigod, and a killer chick, and a whole army. Whatever you have planned, count me in."

"Same here," Ellen volunteered. My very first supporters. I felt like an up and coming revolutionary. I just hope I wouldn't finish as a revolutionary. "Do you think we should... ?"

"Considering our parents won't be able to punish us for talking about it, sure," Daniel said. I wasn't exactly sure what they were talking about, so I listened up for what they had to say. "See, back in the day, Mr. Eppperson used to be this assassin for this son of Hermes named Luke Castellan. In the interest of time, Mr. Epperson was known as the 'Black Hand.' Then in the war with Terra, Gaia, however you want to call, he meets my parents and trains them. Its kind of why we lived there. The three of them were pretty good friends. Fast forward to just before most of us were born, and he's training the kids he takes in with the skills he knows. Then Ellen, Trent, and I come in the picture. He trains us like he does with the other kids, but then he shows us everything."

"Basically, what he's saying is that the three of us are the continuation of the Black Hand," Ellen continued. "We're pretty much trained assassins without the whole assassinating part."

"Oh, so I invited two and a half dozen trained killers into my home," I muttered. "Great."

"Hey, don't worry," Daniel reassured me. "We don't do that sort of thing. That was what Mr. Epperson was up to in the old days, when the Greeks were fighting the Titans."

"But you could technically say that you have two trained assassins in your entourage," Ellen said. "It won't hurt our feelings."

"I wasn't planning on that," I joked. We all laughed. Great, two of my cousins were trained assassins. Family, what can you do?

The detachment was ready to leave by nightfall, so I went to Field of Mars to see them off. Maybe Howard would be in a different mood then, or maybe not. Still, he was so against housing the refugees, yet he had volunteered himself to lead the detachment. My head was already still kind of mushy, but Howard's almost bipolar attitude keep it spinning.

From the public listing, it looked like he was taking two-fifths of the Legion. It seemed like a lot on paper. On average, the Legion could muster two hundred soldiers. There was also the reserves, some of whom were on the advisory panel. They were comprised of ten or more year veterans. So Howard may have been taking a lot with him, but we had a lot to begin with.

Scanning through the list of names, I was able to pick out a couple of them. Sadly, Jake was one of them. I was a bit hesitant about letting him go, but I didn't have much choice. But I think Jade Cramer, my cousin who was his Centurion in the Third Cohort, would keep an eye on him. But she also had her two brothers Adrian and Lucas to look out for, but they were older than Jake, so maybe they didn't need someone looking over them.

Scott and his sister, Cindy were some of the names I could pick out from the First Cohort. I was surprised either one of them were going, especially what had happened to their dad. But maybe, like Howard, they wanted compensation. I just hoped it wouldn't go wrong for them. Andrew Wood was the only other name I could pick out from the First Cohort. He was the younger brother of Brynn Wood, the other Centurion of the Cohort.

Devin and Dwayne Coll both volunteered to go. They were twins and were inseparable. The only bright side to both of them going was that I wouldn't have to see their ugly mugs around the city while the detachment was out. Their younger brother, Nathan, was not being sent out. Other than the twin jerks, I wasn't really familiar with the names from the Fourth Cohort.

Contrasting the other set of twins, both Joanna and Gwen Peake were going. Thurgood was not going. All in all, I didn't know that many people from the Fifth Cohort that weren't related to me. I was too sheltered and I blame the Order of Romulus for that.

But I had to commend Howard for the group he had assembled. He plenty of people that he could trust, that I could trust, and enough to outnumbers the ones that he didn't. Everyone was dressed up in their uniforms, Praetor, Centurions, and Legionnaires and [i]_probatio_[i]. Jake looked so cute in his Legionnaire outfit. But he would pout if I told him that. Still, he was growing up really fast. And it was a little hard to take in sometimes. I just hoped he would grow up and make the right decisions.

"Came to wish us luck?" Howard said, breaking me from my daydreaming. He was decked out in battle-ready armor fit for a Praetor. His long and clumsy purple toga was replaced with a purple cape sort of thing. I was just a little jealous of his armor.

"More like wishing my brother luck," I replied. "You're very hard to understand, you know."

"I've been... stressed, lately," he said quietly. The stress echoed in his voice and showed on the bags under his eyes. His hair was also somewhat of a mess. I could never imagine Howard anything short of perfect, but I guess everyone had their breaking points and he had found his. "I'm sorry. I haven't been making rational decisions lately and I wanted to apologize for that."

"You don't know how hard it was," I said, getting a little emotional. "Seeing all of those things that I saw. And then you wouldn't believe me. I was better off trying to convince a wall."

"I'm sorry, Katrina," He said apologetically. He dug in his pocket to pull out something. "I hope I can make up for what happened during the sting. Here."

He held out three clay beads. I recognized them as soon as I saw them. They were from Dad's Camp Half-blood necklace. He placed them in my hands. I knew there were supposed to be more, but I was wearing them during the bombing.

"You found them?" I asked, getting just a little bit more emotional. "From the explosion site?"

"They were in pretty bad shape, as were you," he said. I remembered him holding me. "A couple of them shattered beyond repair, after taking the blow from some shrapnel. There bits and pieces of it on the edge some sharp glass. If you hadn't been wearing it... "

"Then I would've bled to death," I finished for him. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

"Actually, I think I do," he said.

We hugged it out, which was pretty difficult with him under all that armor.

"Maybe we can get this all sorted after I get back," he said innocently.

"Just... be careful, okay?" I told him. Howard and I have known each for... basically forever. I don't know how I would react if I had to lose him too.

"Aren't I always?" he asked jokingly. I was seeing just about every face of him these days. But yes, he was always careful. Sometimes for his own good.

"Shut up," I parted. "Praetor Amos."

And with that, Howard led the detachment on a casual march out from the east end of Roman territory. A couple of parents and friends had showed up to wish them well. The last time the Legion marched out of Roman territory was when they were at the Greek's necks. The time before that was when Michael Varus, a former Praetor from the Fifth Cohort, marched his expedition to its doom in Alaska. The idiot ended up losing the Legion's golden eagle standard, which was basically our heart and soul, as well as a whole armory of Imperial Gold weaponry. That stuff was hard to make!

But I digress.

"You know the girl usually gives the soldier a kiss before he goes marching off to war," Mom joked, popping up from behind. She too was all packed and ready for her own journey. "But you're too young for that."

Oh, that's right. Neptune, her father and my grandfather, had wanted her to do something for him.

"You're leaving too?" I said. First Jake, now Mom. That meant I had the house to myself. That may or my not be a problem later.

"Sorry, Kat, but I have to do this," Mom replied. "I owed him a favor from when he saved your father's life."

"Grandpa saved Dad?" I asked. I didn't remember hearing this. "When did this happen?"

"Your father almost drowned as a child," she summarized. "Your grandfather prevented that from happening and had done so since then."

"Can't you just wait until they get back?" I asked, almost begging, her.

"Sorry, but my window of opportunity is closing rapidly," she said. "Some of the vets are tagging along with Howard in case things get complicated, so they should be alright. But I should get going. You should visit your Grandma when you get the chance. Bye."

We hugged. Mom and I were roughly the same height at five feet and eleven inches, so it was almost like hugging an older replica of myself. We were tall women. Genetics. Eh.

I had never so readily embraced my bed before then I had at the conclusion of that day. I was both physically and mentally exhausted from all the stress and news. I was worried for a lot of my family members going out there. It was like that short path, with its cold and unknown feeling. I felt like they were walking that road. I just hoped that if the path did crumble from under them that they would be waking up back to reality like I did. Oh wait, they can't. Can they?

That night, I slept like a panda.

The following night was a bit different. I wasn't even aware I was already dreaming.

_To be honest, I was getting a little tired of these 'out-of-body experiences.' All I ever got from them was bad stuff, like watching your family members get killed off. This one had better have something good in it or I would go berserk._

_This time, it was just me, but I stood in some kind of desert. It was well into the night, the starts being my only source of light. I could hear footsteps going on nearby. I went over to them and found Howard and his detachment keeping pace. Were they really marching for that long? It had been over day since they left. Maybe they were just that fast._

_Anyway, I followed them for awhile. I pretended to march them until that got boring. After that, I just scouted ahead saw a flicker of torchlight. It was very easy to spot in the middle of the night. I went over that way to investigate. The Legion had stopped when they were close by._

"_Friend or foe?" Howard asked aloud._

"_Depends, are you here to finish us off?" Blake asked in return._

"_Blake Courtenay?" the Praetor asked, unsure of who it was. "Scott, get me some light, I can barely see a thing out here."_

"_Yeah, give me a second," the augur said as he got to illuminating the scene. Apollo was regarded as the god of light. And that was just one of the traits his descendants often inherited. "Whoa, there's a lot of you."_

"_Oh look its my cousin, Scott Ward," Wyatt said in a funny voice. A lot of the Greeks started laughing and I couldn't help but join in. This wasn't turning out so bad. Yet, at least._

"_Yeah, we lost our camp," Blake said to Howard. "To some guy named Evan Pravus. Do you know him?"_

"_His name has been mentioned in a couple of incidents, yes," Howard said sternly. I didn't know what was going on between these two. Its like they were seconds away from having a shootout. "But we're here to help you out. Our peace charter says so."_

"_Well that's good, because the Blackhand Halfway House didn't help much," Blake said kind sadly. What had happened?_

"_What happened, Blake?" Mr. Copperfield asked. If I'm not mistaken, he was his uncle. "Where is your father? Or any of your parents for that matter?"_

_The Greeks were silent. The sad silence was all the sound they needed to make._

"_They stayed behind in Lebanon, Kansas to buy us some time," Logan said, breaking the silence. "That was four days ago. We haven't seen or heard anything from them since."_

"_Oh... I'm sorry," Mr. Copperfield apologized. "Well, is this everyone that hasn't stayed behind?"_

"_Yes sir," Blake said. "Chiron is tending to some of the wounded in back, but he's still with us."_

"_Alright we should probably get moving- " Mr. Copperfield said, but was suddenly cut off. He fell to the ground, leaving a maddened Devin Coll standing over him with a bloody Imperial Golden knife_

"_Hands, speak for me!" the murderous Centurion shouted, just before he vanished into thin air. He reappeared nearby another veteran and made short of him. In the confusion, several other Legionnaires drew their weapons and began backstabbing the veterans. It was a horrifying. Both sides were so confused that they almost didn't react._

"_Ignite the revolution, brothers and sisters!" Dwanye Coll shouted as he shadow-traveled and took out another veteran. Finally, the Greeks were able to react, attacking the detachment. Unfortunately, that meant all of them. Blake whipped out his bow and fired off three shots, but missed as Howard pulled up his shield. He tossed it at Blake before tackling him to the ground._

"_Get off of me!" Blake grunted, sending an electric shock that blew Howard back a bit._

"_Fight for the Golden Age!" Devin Coll shouted, moving take out the Greeks, but was quickly intercepted by Lalya Lobo, who was also capable of shadow-travel. She didn't manage to get a stab on him, but was able to knock him off of his feet for a moment._

_Dwayne Coll shadow-traveled to his brother, picked him up and reappeared from a location some distance away._

"_Fall back, my brethren!" he urged, as he helped his brother back up to his feet._

"_Wait, Wyatt, stop!" Scott urged his cousin, who had his trident aimed for a quick kill. "They aren't us! I swear on it!"_

"_I really want to believe you, cuz, but... " Wyatt said, standing there for a moment before lowering his trident. "Ah, damn it, I can't lose anymore family. Guys, stop!"_

"_Stop fighting!" Scott rallied his fellow Romans. They were a little hesitant to stop so abruptly, but luckily they managed to cease hostilities. Scott went over to help his Praetor up. "Looks like our enemy has finally revealed themselves."_

"_Yeah, I just wasn't expecting it to happen like this," Howard commented, his voice showing signs of strain. He must've gotten a pretty bad jolt from Blake. "Look, they aren't with us... we were fooled just like you guys. How many, how many did we lose?"_

_It didn't look good, but while the Golden Age infiltrators were inciting the Greeks to fight the Romans, the Colls were systematically taking out Roman veterans, leaving none. Both sides had lost casualties, Romans, Greeks, and traitors, alike._

"_Do they always backstab like that?" Logan barked. "Uh, poor choice of words. But seriously, what in Hades was that?"_

"_This isn't the place to analyze what's happened," Chiron said, walking up to the hypersensitive demigods that were just killing each other a second ago. "We need to head back to New Rome."_

"_Not likely," a newcomer said from the shadows._

"_Show yourself!" Blake threatened, brandishing his bow with an arrow drawn._

_There wasn't a response, except for the sound of very loud, very heavy footsteps that increased in frequency. In not time, a fully-sized Harkin, wearing only a Celestial Bronze breastplate, charged right at all of them. A horde of monsters charged after him a second after him. The almost seven-foot tall giant of a demigod charged for the largest thing he saw, which just happened to be Wyatt._

_The legacy of Dionysus and Poseidon made it his life's effort to move out of the way. Unfortunately, that meant running right into Chiron and knocking him away several feet. The Greeks were very quick to work together to take him out._

"_Cam, Wyatt, tie him down!" Blake shouted as he fired an arrow at Harkin. It effortlessly bounced off his breastplate._

_Meanwhile, Cameron Smith lashed out his electro dual whips and got them wrapped around Harkin's wrists. At the same time, Wyatt summoned thick vines to entrap his feet and legs. The brute was caught off-guard for a second, looking at his restraints to assess the opposition. He then drew his bound wrists back and then outward, pulling Cameron closer to him. The legacy of Zeus and Hecate's heels dug into the sand across some distance, before Harkin was satisfied with the length. Blake readied another arrow and fired it. It got caught in a non-vital part of the body. Harkin seemed completely unaffected by it, because he was readying to pull on Cameron again. He slammed downward with his wrists then pulled back up quickly, sending a wave down the whips that connected with Cameron, flinging him from his feet and onto his butt._

_Now, Harkin grabbed ahold of both whips, despite the electrical burns they were creating. His hands sizzling, Harkin began swinging Cameron around like a wrecking ball, smashing him into Blake then Wyatt. When he let of the whips, they slipped off of his wrists, sending Cameron flying and crashing into Lily._

_While Harkin was dealing with the Greeks, Howard and Scott and the remnants of the detachment were fighting off monster after monster. The Praetor fought with great skill, skewering several monsters with his spear before withdrawing his weapon. Scott hit every mark, while Cindy was jabbing at a smaller monster with her_ plugio_. Jake was bashing enemies with his shield near Jade and her brothers._

_When both sides of the ambush intersected, Scott was caught in the middle. Harkin was advancing toward him with a slow, but menacing pace. Meanwhile, Scott is relentlessly firing arrow after arrow at him. Before he was hitting everything he laid eyes on, but with Harkin he was having no luck. Just like Blake._

"_I can't hit him!" Scott shouted in despair as he backed up to get some room. "His armor must be enchanted!"_

_Just then, Scott tripped over a body and fell to the ground. Harkin was still advancing the augur and Centurion of the First Cohort knew it. On his back and hands, he frantically tried to create distance between him and Harkin. He was absolutely terrified._

_But something momentarily stopped Harkin. It was the sound of gun going off. Its owner was a very frightened Cindy Ward, holding onto an Imperial Golden Dester Eagle. Her hands were nervously shaking and tears were beginning to form at the corner of her eyes. Harkin was caught by surprise and his face showed it... for only a moment._

_He continued advancing nonetheless and Cindy kept firing her gun, the bullets only making the slightest push against his breastplate. One the shots caused enough recoil to jerk her hand out of place, making a very painful and horrible breaking sound._

"_Argh!" the little screamed in agony._

_Harkin was only inches away. In the next two strides he would be right on top of her, and would move on to Scott who was still on the ground. But just as he was within the last stride, he got pushed back quite a bit._

_It was Jake, who had bashed Harkin in the gut with his shield. Baring his teeth in the midst of battle, his eyes shone blood red. Just. Like. Dad's._

_The brute was never expecting this. There was so much power in the shield bash, that when he tried to swing at Jake with his mace, my brother bashed at him harder in the gut, forcing the giant to keel over. WIth his head within striking distance, Jake slammed in an upward arc, crashing right onto Harkin's lower jaw. The sounds it made were indescribable. Harkin made a roar of pain, his face leaning back a bit. Jake was swatted away by a left backhand from Harkin._

_He must've been too much pain to speak, because instead of issuing an order, he pointed at Jake._

_JAKE!_

_Fall back!" Chiron, who was back on his hooves and had Cameron on his back, shouted. "Head for Camp Jupiter! Run, damn it! Just run!"_

"Wake up, Darrow, damn it!" someone shouted to my face as I was waking up. "Wake up!"

"What's going on?" I said in a panic. I was so entrapped in the previous battle that I felt like I was still in it, my heart pounding like Harkin and his mace. Hannah Copperfield stood over me, trying to wake me up. Oh gods, and I just saw her dad get killed in.

"They're on their way," she shouted. "Thurgood is inciting a riot is making his way to your house now!"

"What, why?" I asked, getting up. I noticed Ellen and Daniel were already getting up. "What does he want with me?"

"I don't know," she said, running to the window. "They keep on saying something about your house burning means their Golden Age start or something. I don't know!"

After getting everyone briefed on the situation, we decided to take a defensive stand against Thrugood and his inciters. I knew what was going on. While the Legion was split, the Golden Age Movement, no, the Golden Age Revolution would cause chaos within New Rome while Harkin and his army all but wiped out Howard's detachment and what was left of Camp Half-blood. It was ingenious, planting traitors and operatives within the detachment and strike down the veterans when and where they were least expecting it from. I decided I would tell Hannah about her parents afterward. If we made it that far, that is.

We had the street locked and had a barricade made up of all the furniture. Hannah, using her status as Praetor was able to commandeer more furniture from the neighbors to add to the barricade. Ellen and Daniel, as well as anyone who had an arm was up on the rooftops with rocks from the garden. That left just Hannah and I on the ground. We decided it was best if we put ourselves at risk, where the the kids would either be up on the rooftops or in the house, barricading every window we had. For weapons, we pulled off the legs from the dining room table. Mom was going to kill me. It had been in the family for years. Oh well. This was a life or death situation.

Victory or death, as they say.

We waited until we heard the sound of the approaching mob. They sounded like a couple dozen. Between Hannah Copperfield and I, we could take them on.

I hope.

It wasn't they started coming down the street did I realized how wrong I was. There was at least a hundred rioters. I could imagine most, if not all, of them being Golden Age revolutionaries. And we were just waiting behind this barricade of furniture in the middle of the street. This didn't feel like sound battle strategy, so I climbed over it. I was going to defend this thing from the front. Better yet, I was going to go right for Thurgood the second I saw his ugly mug.

"Darrow, what are you doing, are you crazy?" Hannah shouted at me from atop the barricade. "Get back here!"

"We can't hold them off from back there!" I shouted back as the riot was coming closer. "So I'll hold them off from here!"

"Are you crazy and stupid?!" she shouted back. "You're only one person. Plus, we need to bottle-neck them."

''... I knew that," I said just before I hurried back to the barricade But just then, a fireball exploded on the barricade, creating a huge, burning gap in the center of it. "So much for the barricade."

That was when they started charging us.

Now, aside from Howard and probably now Jake, there has been a lot of banter between Team Fulminis and Team Tornitruum as to who the best fighter is. Being from the Second Cohort, Team Fulminis will boast that the "Red Hurricane," the nickname I've been given, is the best in the field of battle, being a descendant of both Mars, the god of war, and Neptune, the sea god.

Hannah, being from the Third Cohort, is often said to be the best fighter, before she became Praetor, using strategy and tactics above brute force, according to Team Tornitruum. Her nickname was the "Gray Eagle," being the descendant of Minerva and Jupiter. Seriously, how does Minerva even have kids? She was on the virgins or whatever. Wouldn't that mean she had to be made from a test tube with no belly button. Seriously!

Whatever boastings had been made about either us were completely forgotten or not accounted for when the idiots tried to charge us. In short, we clobbered them. From time to time, Hannah had her pegasus swoop down and flap its wings to blow embers and flames on some of the rioters in order to scare them off. In other cases, it would gallop on their hands while flying. Don't ask me how that works.

Before long, the rioters decided to retreat. Instead of pursing them, we had other matters to attend to. First off were the fires.

"This city's really easy to burn," I commented. Hannah glared at me for a second. "Well, it is!"

"I know, which is why need to activate the water pumps," Hannah said, panting a bit. Oh, Praetorship make her a little soft? "Which will need someone tech savvy enough to operate."

"Hey, Daniel, Ellen, you guys have anyone good with machines?" I shouted to my rooftop comrades.

"Hephaestus, er, Vulcan kids?" Daniel shouted. "No, we don't have any of those."

"Great, I don't know how to operate it," Hannah said, almost sounding like she was giving up. "And even I can't figure it out. But we can't let these fires continue."

"Wait, what about Cain?" I asked. It was a long shot, but I knew Cain was innocent and this whole revolution nonsense was just proof of that. "He's a legacy of Vulcan. He has to be good with machines."

"Okay, I'll get him and work on the water pumps," she said, whistling in for her pegasus to give her a lift. "Where are you going to be?"

"Katrina, they're marching on the Senate House!" Ellen shouted from above.

"Is that Thurgood?" Daniel asked aloud.

"Senate House?" Hannah asked.

"Senate House," I said.

And with that, the Praetor took off and jetted for Cain. I was headed for Thurgood. I stuck to the rooftops this time, not wanting to get caught in the street riots. Plus, I had remembered a path to the Senate House from my place. It took me awhile, but once I got there, I ran up to the steps of the Senate House. Thurgood was standing in front of his supporters and rioters. Some of them had torches, while most had clubs. They must have manufactured them inside the Pomerian Line, making Terminus blind to their presence. Now that they were inside the city with them, it didn't really matter the god thought.

"Our Golden Age begins with the razing of this defiled house!" Thurgood shouted to his men. I wasn't about to let that happen, even if the Senate basically disregarded everything I previously said. "Centurion Darrow. Your blood will wipe the halls of the Senate House clean!"

"I don't know know what you plan on getting out of destroying both camps," I said, readying my wooden table leg. It was battered from all the rioters I had to hit, but it was holding up pretty well. It was probably going to be hard to replace. "But I'm not going to let you get away with this! I challenge you, Thurgood. Centurion to Centurion. That is, unless you're too afraid?"

"I have nothing to fear from the likes of you," Thurgood grunted. He walked ahead of his mob to accept my challenge. "Your suffering will be epic, foolish girl!"

"Bring it," I said. Just then, one of the rioters passed Thurgood an Imperial Golden _gladius._ "Hey, that's not fair!"

"You never stated any of the rules," the traitor Centurion corrected. "So I can only assume there are none."

Darn. I would have to remember that one.

Thurgood went for the first strike, starting with a quick jab through the center. I had to keep on my toes if I wanted to not stabbed by his attacks. I tried disarming him when he went for another jab down the center, but he elbowed me in the face, causing me to stagger back a bit.

My blood was beginning to boil now. It wasn't like Mars to become a thoughtless berserker, but I was getting pretty close to there. This time, I was going for the attack. I swung at Thurgood from the side. He caught my blunt weapon with the blade of his sword. Now was the time to strike.

Having his sword still caught in my wooden club, I acred my weapon at a hard angle, causing Thurgood to overextended. In the same instance, I moved in from his exposed side and pulled him forward, causing him to fall from not being able to plant a foot forward. While he was on the ground, I got on his back and wrapped my arms around his neck, my legs straddling from behind to give me more support.

The Centurion tried getting back on his feet and was able to for awhile, but he had me on his back, choking him to death. I wasn't heavy enough to keep him on the ground, but I had enough weight on him to make it difficult. Thurgood ditched the sword and used both of hands to loosen my grip, but just constricted harder.

In this kind of struggle, time is doubled, if not tripled. Both of our senses are heightened to their maximum, mine focusing on finishing him off, his focusing on keeping him alive. I kept holding until he dropped to a knee and then finally on the ground. A pair of hands grabbed and tried to pull me off of him.

"Katrina, let go of him!" Hannah shouted. Why did she want me to stop? I was at the top of my game and I was to give the snake what he had coming to him. But then I noticed that the Senatorial Guard had arrived and had subdued the rioters within the immediate area. Ellen, Daniel, and even Cain were standing nearby, making sure everything went alright. "Let him go, that's an order!"

I finally let go. I didn't know why, but I just did.

"Why?" I demanded. "He deserves to die!"

"Yes, treason is punishable by death," Hannah explained. "But we need him alive. He may know something about what's really going on."

"So you're letting him go?" I asked. "After all of this? He tried to have you and me killed!"

"My presence in their predestined path was circumstantial," the Praetor replied. "No, they will not be allowed to walk freely. But we have to put them through the system."

"The system is what started this in the first place!" I shouted. I was angry and panting furiously, but her words finally getting to me, as much as I didn't want to admit it. I kicked Thurgood, was barely conscious, in the ribs. He let a sharp groan. "Fine. He lives."

After Thurgood and his inciters were moved to a holding facility, Cain coordinated fighting the fires with some of the Senatorial Guard, who acted as part-time firefighters when the need rose up. Ellen and Daniel volunteered to help out. They've already done more than enough by helping me defend my house, but they wanted to do more. In the meantime, the Praetor and I oversaw things from the Senate House.

"The last time Rome burned was by the hands of Emperor Nero," Hannah commented on the scene. We stood at the top of the stairs, which gave us a pretty descent view of the city skyline. Columns of smoke rose from various places in the city as the flicker of fire illuminated others. "Funny how the son of the demigod with the same name is working tirelessly to fight the fires."

"The Fates are funny that way," I joked. Hannah nodded her head a couple of times silently and smiled. "When you volunteered to go get Cain, was it because you felt that he was innocent?"

"I went because he has feelings for me," Hannah admitted. Whoa. "I want to feel the same way, but... there's someone else."

"Scott?" I asked. It was making sense now. The augur was attracted to Hannah, as was Cain. "But why Scott over Cain? I mean, other than obvious reasons."

"I don't know," she stated. "They've both liked me for a a couple of years now, but it was Scott who admitted his feelings to me first. Its not fair that I punish Cain for not being able to act faster, but... do you think I made the right decision by choosing Scott?"

"My Dad always told me to go with my gut instinct," I recalled. Maybe brining up fathers wasn't the best thing to do, or parents in general. I still couldn't believe it myself that the Praetor, as powerful and wise as she was, was completely incapable of foreseeing the death of her parents. I couldn't believe any of it. "Poor choice of words. Sorry."

"No, its okay," she said quietly. "My parents knew the risks when they tagged along with the detachment. But what about you?"

"What about me?" I asked Hannah.

"Do you have feelings for anyone?" she asked in return.

"I haven't given it much thought," I admitted. "I'm too much of tomboy for other guys to like me. Plus, I'm told I can get very annoying at times."

"Well, you may be about both of you things, but no one, really?" she asked. It was true. At least I thought it was. The only guys that were nice to me were Scott, who was my friend, and my cousins, which were family. The only other two people I would even consider, were Howard... or Blake. But they were older than me. So I didn't see it happening. "What about Howard? He mentions you from time to time."

I arched a brow. That was... unexpected. Sure, we had pretty strong feelings for each other, but that was natural for two people who have known each other pretty much their entire lives. But Howard had seemed weirder lately. And he wasn't dating or seeing anyone... Was he waiting for me?

"Howard and I have known each other for a long time," I stated. I didn't want to say anything too definitive, because I knew it would come back to bite me. So for now, I stayed below the radar. "But like I said, I haven't given it much thought."

"Fair enough," Hannah said before sighing. "You should probably give it a rest. We can assess the damage tomorrow."

"Alright," I said, making my descent down the stairs. "Oh, and Hannah... "

"Yes?" she asked.

"Thanks," I answered. She smiled back at me. On any other day, that would've meant she was planning something devious for me, but not today. Today, we were allies. We were friends. And I think the friendship we made today was going to last for awhile.

The next couple of days were focused on restoring order to the city. The Senatorial Guard had been working for more than 48 hours before they got any rest. Hannah commended each of them with a ribbon for their tireless service to the Legion and to the city. As for Cain, he was let go. No questions asked. Hannah knew that he was innocent and used her exempt powers as Praetor to let him walk free. Daniel was made Centurion of the Fourth Cohort, after what he had done to help out. Plus, with the Coll's betrayal, another spot for Centurion was needed. Daniel suggested Cain, to which Hannah agreed. Ellen was commended with a medal, despite being Greek. Most of the remaining advisory panel didn't like it when Hannah personally pinned it on her.

The Praetor also allowed public housing for the Blackhand Halfway House refugees, leaving just me, Daniel, and Ellen at my house.

As for me, I got a medal. It was the Gold Crown, which was usually awarded to those officers who killed an enemy in single combat and holding the ground, which was the Senate House courtyard, to the end of the battle. But since Hannah wanted Thurgood alive, I was still given the medal, since "he was already almost dead." Not bad.

One morning, I decided to check to see if any new video scroll messages were available. Just as I opened one, I saw Ellen up on one of the rooftops. She seemed to enjoy being up there, but I went outside to investigate.

"What do your Greek eyes see, Ellen?" I asked from below.

"They're taking the Legion to the Pomerian Line!" she shouted from above. "I think we have more company!"

I wasted no time running over to the Pomerian Line at the east end of town.

Once I got there I saw Hannah was already in her Praetor's outfit. The Legion, what was left of it after the riots and detachment being sent out. It was a little hard to see who it was with the morning sun in my eyes. But I heard someone shout it for me.

"They're back!" Daniel shouted. The Legion began to cheer their return, until they we were able to see what really happened. The once uniform detachment that marched out had returned, missing half of its numbers, and those who had returned were barely alive as they dragged one foot in front of the other. Their Imperial Golden armor was now barely yellow with all the mud, dirt... and blood that covered it. Others were wrapped in bloodied bandages. One of the soldiers needed help walking, because his face down to nose was wrapped in now red bandages. "They're... back?"

"Scott!" Hannah shouted, completely abandoning her cool, calm demeanor as Praetor. She ran up to the wounded and lifeless augur and Centurion. He was instantly revived by her kiss.

The Greeks were within the nonexistent Roman ranks, just as lifeless with just as many casualties. I saw Cameron had recovered just enough to able to walk with some assistance. It was then Blake was standing in front of me. I was too caught up staring at the effects of Evan's malice and deceit. I didn't even know we were hugging.

I kept a head count of who I saw walking. Scott and Cindy Ward, check. Gwen and Joanna Peake, check. Jade Cramer and her brothers, Adrian and Lucas, check. Logan and Derek Osborne, check. Javier and Ashley Beas, check. Javier was carrying Ashley, who had a bandage wrapped around her eyes. There was plenty of reddening to show what had happened. Still, she bravely hung onto to her almost destroyed teddy bear. Wyatt Ward, check. Wyatt Ward, check. Chiron... check. Cameron Smith, check. Lily Rhiley, check. Layla and Miguel Lobo, check. Miguel was newborn. I don't know how he got here. Joshua and Abigal Masterson, check. Andrew Wood... dead.

Scott went to go console Brynn. She was sobbing furiously when he told her.

But there were still other people I hadn't seen yet, so I went into the crowd of walking casualties. I was looking for Jake and Howard, but the more I kept on looking, the more desperate I became.

"Where's Howard and Jake?" I asked aloud. Jade came to my side, and her brothers weren't too far behind. "Where's my brother? Where's Jake?! Where is he?! Jake!"

"Katrina," Jade said. Her voice was beginning to fill with sadness. "Katrina, you need to stop. Please."

"No, he's here, he's just hard to find!" I said desperately. "Jake, you can come out now! You got me! Jake?"

"Katrina, I'm sorry," Jade apologized. No. This wasn't happening. I was still asleep in my coma. I was going to wake up for real this time. "Katrina, they took Jake."

"No, that's not true!" I screamed, my eyes watering like waterfalls. I pushed Jade in a mad scramble and pushed my way through the survivors, knocking over some people. "Jake! Jacob, Jake!"

Hannah helped me up and I buried my face into her purple toga. In most cases, it was a serious crime for someone to damage the toga, but I didn't care, and neither did Hannah. I sobbed until my eyes were dried out. I couldn't believe it. Dad and Jake were gone. I was worthless for not being able to do anything.

"Katrina, I'm sorry," Jade came over and apologized to me. "I did everything I could, but I couldn't get to him in time. I'm so sorry."

We met at the Senate House with the eldest of the Greeks, and the Senate, or whatever was left of it. Both sides recalled recent events.

It seemed that Evan Pravus had completely decimated Camp Half-blood to the ground, but didn't fire on Bunker Nine, a place used during a war between the Greeks and the Romans almost two centuries ago. Nobody knew what was able to destroy so much in so little time. They had decided to make their way for the Blackhand Halfway House, which was also burnt down, but by Harkin and Tamara Ondrea. They also killed all the adults in the building and took Trent along with a couple of other kids.

When the Greeks arrived, they were ambushed. The adults decided to stay behind and cover the rest of the camp's escape. Chiron led the kids, in hopes of reaching Camp Jupiter. It was somewhere in the desert where Howard's detachment met up with Chiron and the Greeks. It was there they were ambushed again, this time by Harkin and his army. During the fight, several campers from both camps were taken. Again, nobody was able to figure out why.

"He was so tall... and so strong," Blake admitted during the meeting. "Every arrow I hit at him would either bounce off or do no damage to him. I don't think there is a human side to him. I think he's half-god, half-monster."

A lot of people shuddered at the mention of Harkin. He was able to kill a demigod who had fought in two wars with just one blow to the head. And he was huge, almost seven feet in height.

"He had enchanted armor or something," Scott theorized. "I couldn't get a shot on him either."

There was also mentioning of Tamara Ondrea. She was an outsider to the Hermes Cabin and hardly took part in camp activities. It was clear that Evan Pravus had recruited people from both camps and had constructed a very precise synchronization of events that led us here, both camps, wounded and without the aid of veterans. We didn't know why Pravus was doing this, but we forged a quick alliance between one another in hopes of stopping him.

"There is also one other matter," Scott said, stepping forward. He walked to the front and center part of the room and pulled out something out of his pocket. It was something wrapped up, so Scott took awhile to unwrap. But the look on his face told us everything. "This is the finger of Howard Amos. I saw him fall in battle. Our Praetor... is dead."

I squeezed my eyes close when I saw Howard's bloodied and severed finger. I had found out that he was killed in battle, but having this presented only brought back the feeling. I started crying again, but quickly got myself together.

"Tradition states that the line of succession must continue," Scott said grimly. He was right. If we lost a Praetor, we had to get another fast. One Praetor wasn't really allowed to do anything without the other knowing. And if Hannah were to operate as our leader alone, then she would appear as overambitious and possibly a tyrant. And tyrants were often killed. "We, the Senate, have to decide on who will become Praetor."

"You're right," the only living Praetor said. She then looked to... me? "Will you join me? I can use a woman of action like yourself by my side."

All eyes were on me, Greek and Roman. I didn't want to be Praetor. It wasn't my path. Someone else would have to take it.

"I can't be Praetor," I announced. There was a sudden gasp in the room followed continual murmurs. "Scott, why can't you be Praetor? You're a good leader."

"I'm an augur and already an officer," Scott stated. "It would be questionable if became Praetor, especially since Howard and I were good friends. It can't be me."

"Then what about Daniel or Cain?" I suggested. "Or Joanna or Gwen, or Jade? Somebody that isn't me."

"I don't think we're allowed to have Greco-Roman Praetors," Daniel said. "And the only time we had a Greek for Praetor was under special circumstances. And it wasn't a vote. It was a unanimous nomination after a battle. So it can't be us hybrids."

"And I just got out of jail," Cain said. "As much as I want to _el jefe,_ I can't."

"Well then I refuse," I decided. "I'm allowed to refuse a nomination, so there. Just have an election or something."

"Well, we can't force you to become Praetor," Hannah finished. "So we won't. We'll begin the election process tomorrow."

The following night we had a massive funeral pyre at Temple Hill, which was just outside the city. Since the bodies weren't here, we burned shrouds tailored to each godly parent or godly ancestor. It felt like the city was burning again with all the shrouds we were burning.

Blake was standing next to me during the ceremony. I remembered the last time I was up here... which was for Dad's funeral pyre. There was so much we were up against, and I was afraid. This wasn't Thurgood and a bunch of rioters we were facing, this was a man and his army bent on erasing, not conquering us.

He held my hand during the ceremony. It was a gesture showing that he knew what I was going through. Everyone was going through the same thing.

There was a storm on the horizon. And our shutters were wide open.


	7. Chapter 6: Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is told from the third-person POV of Lucius Darrow.

**Chapter VI: Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?**

**To say that Lucius was not happy with his brother, Marcus, was an understatement.** It had been eight years since the defeat of Terra. His wife had retired from the Legion and had taken up work in the Circus Maximus, working with the horses there. Lucius himself had been promoted to Centurion for a short while, before taking up the role of the first Ambassador of Greco-Roman relations. He had taken up this position as a favor to his half-brother, now Praetor. He was not very happy with the long time he spent away from home, from his wife, and now his children.

Eight years since the war ended and Lucius had a daughter named after the terrible hurricane storm Katrina. Both he and his wife, Carolina, knew that their daughter would grow to be a strong, but powerful woman. Four years later, they had their first son, Jacob, named after Lucius' best friend. Earlier, the son of Mars had made a promise to his Greek friend that he would name his son after him, after accompanying him on a dangerous quest.

And it was because of his wife and two kids, one of them being a newborn, that Lucius was not so eager into doing another favor for Marcus, even if they were brothers through their mutual godly parent, Mars. Still, the Praetor had the authority to request an audience with any member of the Legion. Lucius, much to his dismay, was honor bound to comply.

The Principia in Camp Jupiter has stayed pretty much the same, only updating every ten or so years. The inside, however, changed to fit the personality of each Praetor. During his younger years, when Reyna was the only Praetor, the office had been handled by only one person. Stacks of paperwork. Now, with Marcus North and Jack Copperfield as Praetors, the work had been equally divided amongst the two of them.

Lucius admired Jack's dedication to the people's interests, rather than his own. Marcus sought to preserve his time in office. And Lucius knew that this request was most likely to have something to do with doing just that.

The interior of the Principia was divided between the personal touches of both Praetors. On one side, many plaques and medals were hung up, as well as many decorative weapons, given as part of a ceremony or coronation. On the other, Pictures of family members, travel destinations, with the occasional medal or plaque. But one of them, being made out of macaroni, stood out among the others:

_Best Dad in the World - Hannah C._

That had some sentimental value for Lucius, being a father. Both his daughter, Katrina, and Jack's daughter, Hannah, were the same age. They enjoyed playing with each other at the local daycare, so there was hope that they would grow up to be good friends and strong allies. Lucius couldn't imagine them having some kind of rivalry growing up.

Then again, the son of Mars wasn't sure if he was going to be around to see that.

Lucius was suffering from the very first, if not the only, case of mythically-altered schizophrenia. From what Will Solace had told him when he was first diagnosed with it, he came to understand that it was terminal. He was going to die from it. But for the most part, the changes weren't that noticeable. During its most violent stages, an alter ego, which referred to itself as _Interitus_, would wreak havoc and destruction on everything it saw. The color of his eyes would change from hazel to blood-red, and he would only speak Latin. It was a defense mechanism, from what he cold tell, that acted in order to prevent his death in combat-related situations. Still, when he wasn't in his _other_ form, Lucius suffered from disorientation and massive headaches, making it hard for him to focus.

On top of that, he had to deal with the usual dyslexia and ADHD that most other demigods had. Thankfully, his family was spared from _Interitus'_ interference. He hadn't told his kids about it, and his wife suffered bedside when Lucius went through a stream of violent nightmares. The bruises on her arms were proof enough.

From what he had gathered over the years, there was no cure or treatment. But there were physical symptoms that he had begun to notice over the past couple of years. His skin had begun to lose pigmentation. Not by a whole lot, but he was slightly lighter in skin tone now than he was eight years before. His eye color had also changed over time. They were still hazel in color, but the tiniest bits of red could be distinguished from them.

But his mind slipped away from his condition when he laid eyes on his half-brother, one of the ruling Praetors of the time. The other son of Mars was leaning back in his chair at his desk, which had some paperwork on it. The Praetor himself, was dark haired like Lucius, but had blue eyes like some of his other half-blood siblings. The years of leadership, networking, and political ambition had taken its toll on the young man that sat before him. A demigod that was able to reach adulthood, even its early stages, was considered to have beaten the odds. Each half-blood had their own story of triumph and loss, and Marcus and Lucius were just another.

"The man of peace graces me with his appearance," Marcus said jokingly, standing up. He moved his arms outward to emphasize his point. "But seriously, I'm glad you showed up. I needed to speak with you."

"Can you make this quick, Marcus?" Lucius said a little impatiently. "I have a wife and kids that I haven't seen in a couple of weeks."

"Ah, yes," Marcus began. "How are they, by the way? Its a boy and a girl, yes?"

"Katrina, my daughter, turned four years old three months ago," Lucius said. She was growing up so fast. It was almost a little hard to watch. "And my son, Jacob, was born last month."

"Building a legacy is good, isn't it?" Marcus asked. "Which is what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, I plan on finishing my political career on a good note."

"At last we will have peace," Lucius said under his breath.

"Yes... as I was saying, I wanted to finish off my career on a good note, before I become a member of the advisory panel," the Praetor continued. Lucius thought that maybe when Marcus was finished being Praetor, Lucius could be at home with his family more often. "I want to do something no other Praetor has done within the last three centuries. I want to complete the Gauntlet."

"I'm... not familiar," Lucius said. He thought he had heard something about it when he was a gladiator. A murmur or something. If he had heard of it, it was only in mentioning.

"Most aren't," Marcus explained. "It hasn't been attempted since William Amos' time. And that was at least 20 to 30 years ago. Its been banned from participation since then."

"Why would they ban it?" Lucius asked.

"Because when Amos tried it, he nearly destroyed the whole Coliseum and almost got everyone in it killed," the Praetor explained. "But that's because our _friends_ from the Order of Romulus had some hand in that."

Lucius thought about it for a moment. The Gauntlet sounded like a death trap, a final means. Fitting, as it may be, he wasn't really too eager for Marcus to take his last moments as Praetor in that challenge.

"If you wanted me to come all the way here for you to tell me you wanted to die in the arena... " Lucius began to say. "Then you're wasting my time, and yours."

"Oh believe me, I am fully aware that attempted this on my own will get me killed," the Praetor replied. "In fact, there is a requirement for only two combatants to enter. They're linked together for the duration of the challenge. And I want you to enter it with me."

This was the point where Lucius had had enough with Marcus. He had been doing him favors for years now, and now he had grown tired of it. In times of war, he was honor bound to fight to the death alongside a fellow member of the Legion. But these were different times. It was a time of building the foundations for the next generation. Marcus' scheme for the Gauntlet was an extracurricular activity, and Lucius had the power to reject offering his aid, even if he was the Praetor. Most would be honored to assist an officer of his status, but not Lucius.

But for some reason, Lucius couldn't just let him die a horrible and tragic death in front of everyone. Then he would have to attend his funeral pyre. _Then_ he would be honor bound again to perform another favor him, even if the benefactor was dead.

It was either doing a favor for Marcus now, or later.

Lucius wasn't counting on being around for the latter.

"Marcus, I am getting real tired, of your sh- " Lucius began to say.

"Great then, so you'll come by for training then?" Marcus interrupted. "Excellent! Meet me at the Wolf's Den tomorrow morning then. We'll go over some... precautions."

Lucius was not very happy with Marcus.

The next morning he was at the Lion's Den, a local gladiator gym that Marcus was sponsored by. Lucius himself had spent some time there during his brief gladiatorial career. There were fighters, some full demigods, others were demigod legacies, or descendants of demigods, training there. And they weren't just from the Second Cohort, there were members from the First, Third, and Fourth Cohorts. There weren't many members from the Fifth Cohort, as far as Lucius knew. Still, the roster from the group was very diverse.

There was already a group working on some cardio drills, completing exercises to the best of their ability within an allotted amount of time before switching to the next routine. The Praetor, dressed in a tank top and shorts, tossed a duffel bag to his half-brother.

"Get dressed, we've got a long day ahead of us," he greeted. Lucius knew as soon as he walked back into the gym, he wasn't going to enjoy it at all. "You've got a lot of catching up to you, being ambassador has made you a little... soft."

"We'll see," Lucius said, heading to the locker room to change.

He found a similar outfit inside, along with something else. It was a small vial, with a dark bubbling liquid. He held up closer to examine what it was, curious as to why it was left in his bag. His instinct told him that it was dangerous, and that he shouldn't consume it.

"Go ahead, drink up," Marcus said, after he had seen Lucius with the vial. "Quickly, before anyone sees you. You'll need to take that dose every morning before training up until the Gauntlet."

"Marcus, what is this stuff?" Lucius asked, refusing to drink it until he got answers.

"Its drakon poison," he said. A cold feeling ran through Lucius' face. What was this for? He was beginning to feel that he wasn't being told of something very important.

"Why do I need to drink drakon poison everyday before training?" Lucius asked in a very stern voice. Praetor or not, Lucius had Marcus in a slip up. And he was demanding his answers now.

"It helps build a resistance to it," the Praetor admitted.

"You want me to cheat the Gauntlet?" Lucius burst out. Marcus motioned for him to not speak so loud. "Do you have any idea what would happen to us, to you, if they found out about this? There is no honor in cheating!"

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to kill a drakon?" Marcus asked, who was made famous for killing one. "I almost died killing one in the Coliseum, even after developing a resistance to its poison. Imagine what it would have been like if I had go in there without taking that sort of precaution. You'd be a fool to take one on without some kind of help."

"I won't help you cheat, Marcus," Lucius stated. The son of Mars believed that people often find themselves... or find themselves lack through opposition and conflict. But cheating wasn't one of those ways.

"Then I hope your family is ready to watch you die," Marcus said bitterly. The two of them glared at each other for a moment. "Fine. Don't be smart. But at least help me."

"Fine," Lucius muttered.

The two of them got to work with the rest of the gladiators. Getting back into the gladiator training session felt like Tartarus. When he first got into it, it was just as bad. He had been busy raising a family and with work, constantly back and forth between Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter. But he felt good knowing that his work kept the two sides from waging war on each other.

Marcus, as Lucius had observed, was still in shape. He didn't have the burden of raising a family or tending to a job that required a lot of traveling. Plus, he wasn't suffering from a terrible ailment. But as discouraged as Lucius was, he kept up... barely. He didn't like that his half-brother was going into the Gauntlet with an advantage, but as long as Lucius didn't have to betray his own morals, he was fine.

By the end of the day, his legs felt like noodles. Every part of his sweating body writhed with pain. Training sessions started from dawn, and finished by the sun's setting. The only time they got a break was during high noon. It was a centuries-old practice, a proven one at that. Roman gladiators were some of the greatest fighters in Western civilization in their time. The average fighter could account for a half a dozen conscripted soldiers, back in the day.

During their lunch break, after a couple of days into the regimen, Lucius and Marcus had visitors. The Praetor and he were sitting out in the yard of the _ludus_, or training school, when an old friend of theirs came by, along with two others.

William Amos, accompanied by his son, Howard, and another, whom Lucius was not able to recognize, came up to them. Amos and Lucius went way back, during the Second Gigantomachy, the War with Terra and the Giants. He, Marcus, and Clancy took down the rogue Order of Romulus, a secret society.

"And we are graced by one of New Rome's greatest!" Lucius said teasingly. He got up, despite being roughed up by the training earlier, and greeted his old friend. His gaze switched to Howard, who was growing very quickly. Lucius had to remind himself that Katrina was going through the same thing too. "By the gods, look how much you've grown Howard!"

"Thank you, Mr. Darrow," Howard said politely. "Its good to see you again."

"What brings you to my humble abode?" Marcus asked. Lucius was still curious about the new kid, the one with blond hair, and golden-colored eyes.

"Well, I wanted to present to you the renewed Order of Romulus' first two initiates," Amos stated. Lucius noticed Marcus' eyes brighten. He dismissed it, not putting much thought into it. "Evan Pravus, of the Fifth Cohort, and my son, Howard."

"Strange, I haven't heard of a Pravus bloodline running through New Rome," the Ambassador said. Still, the kid looked respectable enough.

"I come from an old lineage," Evan explained. "Its become irrelevant as of late, but I hope to change that."

"A boy after my own heart," Marcus said. "Say, you two look like avid fans, you feel up to sparring with one another?"

"Sure!" the two boys said in glee.

Marcus led the two future initiates over to a weapons rack and retrieved a wooden sword for both of them. Soon, they were play-fighting. Both boys, despite their age, were very intense fighters. But it looked as though Evan had the upper-hand.

"That Pravus kid sure is something," Lucius said to Amos. "Your son also has some skill."

"Indeed," the former Praetor agreed. "Training at home goes a long way. Pretty soon, he'll be in the Legion."

"Just another reminder that we're getting old," Lucius muttered to himself.

"Which is why we need our children to keep up with the city's interests," Amos said. "A happy New Rome makes for easy relations between the Greeks and Romans. In time, I would hope that your children would join the Order. If they're going to be anything like you, we'll need them."

Lucius didn't entirely agree with that. While he had hoped the best for them, he didn't want them to go through some of the things that he did when he was growing up, like watching his half-sister die, having a terrible relationship with both his mortal and godly parents, among other things.

"In time," Lucius said.

"In time," Amos repeated. "I think I've held you up enough. We'll be looking forward to the Gauntlet tomorrow. We'll see if you can beat the standard I set."

"But you didn't complete the Gauntlet," Lucius said, a little confused.

"Exactly," he teased. "Good luck."

The Gauntlet would take place on the 4th of July. Lucius remembers spending one or two of America's birthdays at Camp Half-blood, where they would have fireworks to celebrate the national holiday. As far as the Romans were concerned, there were to be no fireworks. Instead, there was going to be a huge public display of courage, endurance, and teamwork.

Lucius sat in the locker room in the Coliseum's hypogeum, or underground. He could hear the different kinds of monsters shrieking and roaring in anticipation. The drakon, actually... drakons, were not making any noises, as far as he could hear. That made an unsettling feeling in his stomach. Still, he had to put faith in his abilities, as well as in Marcus. It was going to take two of them to get anywhere to completing the challenge.

With all of his armor on, save for his helmet, which was being readied for him while he waited, Lucius sat in the locker room until his wife and kids came. Carolina was holding their newborn son, Jacob, wrapped in a blanket. Katrina was reading a t-shirt that read: _Team Darrow_.

"We wanted to wish you good luck," the daughter of Neptune said, kissing Lucius.

The son of Mars picked up Jacob and looked at him. When Lucius first joined the Legion, he had no idea what kind of future he was going to make, but in that moment, he saw it. He was a father, a husband, a peace-broker, a warrior, a soldier, but most importantly, he belonged. There was a place for him, and it was here.

"Kick some butt, Daddy!" Katrina cheered. After handing Jacob back to Carolina, he hoisted up his daughter, who was getting too big for her. "Bull and lion, side by side!"

Lucius' original gladiator name was _Taurus Proditor_, or "Traitor Bull," but now he was going in as _Taurus Rubeus_, or "Red Bull." It was a bit of step up.

"Jacob came by the other day," Carolina told Lucius quietly. "He said he was concerned about someone's disappearance. But that can wait for now."

"Agreed," Lucius joked. One of the crew people came in to tell him to get ready. "Looks like this is it."

"Hey, you do good out there, okay?" Carolina instructed Lucius. With one last kiss from his wife and daughter, he headed down the hall.

The corridors of the hypogeum were very dark, but there were few adjoining corridors, so he didn't need to worry about getting lost. Still, he could feel the roar of the crowd grow louder and louder with every step he took.

It wasn't long before he could begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, where a figure stood. A pair of hands handed over his helmet to him, which he kept off for the moment. It was so large and bulky that it would be difficult to navigate in the darkness of the hypogeum.

Marcus stood by the entrance, holding a helmet adorned by a very large mane of brown and weathered hair.

"So the [i]_Taurus Rubeus_[/i] arrives at last," Marcus said, putting on his helmet. Once he had it on, it made him look like a lion with a huge mane. Lucius put his special helmet on and feel the weight and bulkiness take hold. He imagined he looked like a minotaur. The sound of a collection of horns blared from the Coliseum, initiating the start of the competition. "Victory or death, as they say."

"I prefer not to die," Lucius said sarcastically, as they both walked out onto the sands of the Coliseum.

It had been awhile, but Lucius was just now remembering how awesome and loud the crowd could get. And with an event that hadn't been competed in more than a couple of generations, it was easy to get the crowd going wild.

"Ladies and gentlemen, legionnaires and plebeians, I present to you, your contestants - the beasts of the Second Cohort!" an commentator announced. "For the first time in over 20 years, these two warriors will take on the dangerous and terrifying Gauntlet challenge!"

A pair of workers, wearing armor, came over with chains and bound the sons of Mars in a chain that connected to a gurney-like structure on the back of their armor.

"The rules are simple," the commentator explained. "Both contestants will stay linked for the duration of the contest, where they will have to work together to survive ten rounds of fierce opposition. If their link were to somehow be broken, they are eliminated. If one of the contestants dies, then they are both eliminated. Both fighters can choose to forfeit at anytime during the challenge. But enough with the rules, lets get ready for the Gauntlet!"

A group of horns sounded through the Coliseum. The crowd's anticipation shot up tenfold, as did Lucius' anxiety. All eyes were focused on one of the closed gates, which had some gears turning, signaling that it was soon to be opening.

The gate's doors swung open, revealing the duo's first obstacle. A single Cyclops stumbled onto the sands of the Coliseum, suggesting that it may have been freshly caught for the games. The two sons of Mars exchanged a look.

"This is what we're up against?" Lucius said to his partner, the Praetor. Marcus shrugged.

"It's supposed to get harder " Marcus responded, cuing toward the advancing Cyclops.

Lucius sighed.

"I'm getting too old for this stuff," Lucius said under his breath. The two of them moved forward, albeit clumsily due to their linked bond. They had to maintain the same pace, otherwise the person in front would get pulled back by the person lagging behind, or the person behind would get pulled forward, creating dead weight.

Thankfully, the two had been training intensively before entering the competition. They kept up with each other, mostly Marcus slowing down to Lucius' pace, who was just a step behind. Lucius had other priorities, and they had taken their toll on him.

With a bit of luck and good timing, the two half-brothers were able to move and attack from both sides of the monster, running around it with their chain link, tripping the monster and attacking it while it was down. When the Cyclops did end up dissolving into golden dust, a horn sounded, signaling the end of the first round.

"That wasn't too bad," Lucius said. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"We've still got nine more rounds to go," Marcus said. "We're far from over."

Just before Lucius felt like he could relax, a series of horns sounded again, signaling the start of the next round. A squadron of telekhines scurried out onto the Coliseum. They quickly moved to completely surround the two fighters.

Lucius began to feel like he was fighting Terra's forces again. Not too long ago, he was a soldier, fighting for the fate of the world. It was the demigods of both Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter up against the forces of Terra, which included a variety of monsters and revived mortals and villains from the old world of mythology. The telekhines were just some of the monsters he had faced at one point or another.

But this only motivated Lucius to cut them down faster and harder than when he was fighting for survival. Now he was the predator, and his prey, the telekhines, had walked into his cage, his territory. Fighting alongside with Marcus proved that even outnumbered, the two sons of Mars would overcome any opposition.

They were all cut down in a rapid succession. Lucius was getting back into his battle-mode, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. It was easy to let martial skills go to waste during the peacetime, for there was no need for them, but there were other priorities that came up. Lucius could feel his mind wandering again, away from the fight, so he tried to refocus himself.

The next couple of rounds met the same result. The two sons of Mars had overcome whatever was thrown at them. It was how well hey could overcome it was what degraded over time. Their endurance was beginning to deplete, Lucius' faster than Marcus'. It wasn't until they could feel the energy of the crowd building up, anticipating the next round.

The two warriors could feel it as well. Lucius' heart was pounding from strain, completely covered in sweat underneath his armor. He guessed that his partner, Marcus was probably in the same condition.

"Get ready," Marcus said in between breaths. Lucius was too busy breathing to speak.

Then the horns for the next round sounded, causing part of the Coliseum's floor to open up. A roar from the opened surface sounded, followed by another. The sounds of gears shifting and turning then took precedent, marking the sound of the two beasts being lifted up from the hypogeum to the Coliseum's presentation level.

Lucius stood like a stone as he watched his next competition being raised from the floor below.

The beasts were like giant serpents, with faces and eyes that could turn ordinary men to stone. Lucius was feeling paralytic just looking at it from afar. He was dreading having to actually engage not one, but two drakons at once. He could feel a similar sense of dread coming from Marcus.

"Should've taken the venom when I gave it to you," Marcus muttered between his breathing.

"It wouldn't have mattered," Lucius shot back. "There's two of them."

"All the more fun," Marcus said back. "Now lets give these people a show!"

Lucius groaned before advancing with Marcus. The drakons were only beginning to approach the two warriors, after having examined their surroundings. Safety nets and transparent barricades had raised during the drakons' entrance. Lucius thought that the Coliseum executives must've learned from last time.

The drakons were easily ten times bigger than Marcus and Lucius, if not fifteen or twenty times their greater. Their eyes pierced Lucius' courage and determination. He wasn't so much afraid of their teeth, rather their ability to spit venom, which also had corrosive properties. At best, his armor could take one hit from it before it ate through his only defense.

Lucius didn't think those were good chances.

"Let them go for the first attack," Marcus said to his comrade.

"From which one?" Lucius asked, noticing that one of the drakons' was starting to rear its head back.

"Whichever one wants to attack first!" Marcus said tugging him to the side. "Look out!"

Dashing to the side, Lucius felt a heap of burning guck fling past him. He heard a prolonged sizzle as he laid out on the ground. The drakon's poison was going to be the end of him if he wasn't careful. At the same time, Marcus lunged for an attack at the beast's chest, giving it a deep stab before retreating. On retrieval of his weapon, he pulled out in an arc across the beast's chest, widening the wound.

The Praetor's weapon was sizzling, leaving trails of smoke. The blade was covered in a gooey green mix. Luckily, the blade itself hadn't been dissolved, but should Marcus or Lucius come into contact with the poison, they would be in severe danger.

"Now I can kill the other one," Marcus said, admiring his poisoned weapon. "No two drakons have the same poison."

Lucius nodded, trying to keep an eye at both of the drakons, who were going for physical attacks this time. The other drakon dove in and snapped at them both. Lucius and Marcus jumped out of its way, but not too far since they were still linked by their chain bond.

Just then, Lucius had an idea. With the drakon's neck exposed between he and Marcus, Lucius jumped over the appendage, taking the chain with him. The action resulted in their chain bond tightening down on the drakon's neck, choking it. Unfortunately, Lucius hadn't thought much on the possibility of the drakon being much stronger than both of them.

The two competitors were lifted from their feet, their chain still around the drakon's neck. Lucius fought to regain control, clinging to the surface of the drakon's neck. The other drakon raised it head to eye them both, lunging at them, but clamping down at the choking drakon's neck. Lucius was only inches away from being chewed down by the drakon's massive and deadly sharp teeth.

But with Lucius maneuvering away from the other drakon's teeth, his weight shifted, pulling down on the drakon's neck. They were soon reunited with the ground with a hard smack. Lucius was dazed from the impact, unable to immediately get up. To make matters worst, his legs were trapped.

The drakon's neck moved a little, causing Lucius to panic. He was in the worst position possible, only seconds away from being eaten in one fell swoop or worse, being disintegrated on the spot by their poison.

"Lucius!" the ambassador heard from the drakon's neck. In the next moment, a blade pierced through the drakon's neck. Marcus had tore his way from the other side. "Come on, we're only half done with this fight!"

Marcus helped Lucius out, while the drakon dissolved into not golden dust, but rather a large pool of corrosive poison. Lucius was glad he hadn't been there a moment longer.

The crowd exploded into cheer. The two warriors had just slain a drakon together, something only the greatest of heroes come close to doing. The last person to do so was a Greek, a mutual half-sister of theirs by the name of Clarisse la Rue. Still, Lucius had to admit that the deed was still very great, if not epic. Unfortunately, his celebration would only be short-lived, as he was son knocked down by the burning and corrosive embrace of a drakon's poisonous spit.

Lucius felt his armor being dissolved in seconds, only to then drip onto his skin, where it felt like being laid against a furnace. He was hit on his left shoulder, where his skin felt on the fire. He screamed in agony, writhing in pain. He couldn't move or think, but only feel the pain of poison slipping into his body. He was soon helped up by Marcus, but he almost collapsed afterward.

The drakon with the wounded chest lunged at them both for a final attack, but Marcus hit Lucius' blade and his own together, sending a single spark that lit up the pool of poison that the drakon had leapt over. For a moment, the sky above Lucius was illustrated by just the drakon leaping in a blaze of fire. It slammed to the ground behind them in a form of flaming liquid. Again, the crowd reached new heights in the volume of cheer.

"That's it?" Lucius asked Marcus, he had a weary look on his face. "We did it? We finished the Gauntlet?"

A cascade of horns sounded. But it sounded like the previous horns, the same ones used to initiate the next round. Lucius was confused. He thought the challenge ended when both of the drakons were slain. How could they be asked of more?

"Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen!" the commenter announced. "For the first time in centuries, the challengers have slain the two drakons! This is a remarkable achievement indeed, but there is still more! Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for the final round!"

Marcus tossed Lucius' weapon back to him.

"Pick it up," Marcus said solemnly. He didn't make eye contact with him when he said that. "Pick it up so I defeat you with some glory."

"LET THE FINAL FIGHT... BEGIN!" the commentator exclaimed.

Marcus went for the attack, even though Lucius had not retrieved his weapon. But it did not matter. Instead, by instinct, Lucius dove for his sword, rolled to his side and booted Marcus in the face. The ambassador was back on his feet by the time Marcus had gotten himself together.

The Praetor went in for another attack, while Lucius stood to defend himself. He felt Marcus' weight with the strike, holding it there for the moment.

"Why didn't you tell me about the last round?!" Lucius shouted, his shoulder burning with extreme pain. He felt a voice within his head trying to surface, but he suppressed. Lucius couldn't risk _Interitus_ getting loose. Not here, in front of everyone.

"I knew you would be too honorable to drink the venom," Marcus admitted. His betrayal felt like a knife being stuck in his back. "And I knew you too strong for the poison to finish you off. So I let you get hit, so I could finish you off in your weakened state."

"You would go so far as to use your own brother for your own gain?" Lucius barked. "Is there even a shred of dignity in there? Or are you as vile as the poison that creeps through me now?"

"This city's legacy was founded on the success of one brother over another," Marcus replied, withdrawing before attacking again. Lucius stood his ground. He wasn't able to move forward, but only stand there on the defense. "My name will be engraved within the history of all of Rome!"

Lucius couldn't believe how far Marcus had gone. He felt so hurt and betrayed. But he also felt a burning anger growing within him. He felt _Interitus_ trying to assume control over Lucius. But he had to fight for control from within. If he didn't, then he would destroy everyone. _Interitus_ would.

"_KILL HIM!_" _Interitus_ shouted from within Lucius' mind.

"Stop, Marcus," Lucius warned. "Stop it before its too late."

"I've come too far to turn back now," Marcus said in retaliation. "My fate has already been sealed."

"Your fate is what you make it," Lucius pleaded. "Please, Marcus. Don't throw away the honor and dignity you have left."

Marcus stood there a moment. He seemed internally conflicted. Meanwhile, Lucius felt his strength his dark passenger slipping away moment by moment. If Marcus were to strike now, he would lose any kind of control. _Interitus_ would be unleashed.

Marcus raised his weapon to strike. Lucius closed his eyes as he struck. It was over. For him. And for everyone.

But he didn't feel anything. He still felt his shoulder burning from the poison, spreading across his body, but not much else.

Instead, he saw their chain bond broken, split from his attack. Marcus had disqualified them both. A single tear fell from the Praetor's eye, but he was quick to remove it before anyone else could see it.

"I didn't do this for you," Marcus said to Lucius, he was starting to black out a bit. "I did this for me. I want to be remembered as a great hero. A great hero whose had the greatest strength of them all - restraint."

And like that, Marcus dropped his sword and raised his hands, showing that he had forfeited. He then went over to check on Lucius, who had just collapsed.

Lucius laid in the clinic bed. He had been recovering from his poison wound during his attempt of the Gauntlet with Marcus. Since he was there, he considered things ended well, at least better than how they could have ended.

The Praetor stood by the entrance of the room, he had his arms crossed, like he had been waiting there for some time.

"Marcus?" Lucius called out from his bed. He was still a little weary from the recovery. "What are you doing here?"

"For something I should've a long time ago," Marcus said. "I shouldn't have made you do those things, and for that... I'm sorry."

"I accept," Lucius said roughly. "So are you going to finish your career off even with these turn of events?"

"No, unless you want to take another shot at the Gauntlet?" Marcus asked jokingly. "No, I didn't think so. It seems I will have to remain Praetor for a little while longer."

"Ah, well at least you'll have your new record," Lucius commented. "The only person to slay two drakons in the same fight."

"No, that's not my record," the Praetor corrected. "Its _ours_. I'll see you around, brother."

Marcus then left the room, leaving Lucius to contemplate in solitude. He pulled out one of his recording scroll devices and booted it up.

**Katrina, we need to talk...**

**End log 104.**


	8. Chapter 7: Vivere Revolutio!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is told from the first-person POV of Katrina Darrow. This chapter may be long for some, but its really important to catch all the details here.

**Chapter VII: ****_Vivere Revolutio!_**

**New Rome had been making preparations for Pravus and the Golden Age Revolution as soon as we were able.** With the Camp Half-blood refugees situated in tents outside of camp, we worked together to coordinate an effective defense. Hannah, being the only Praetor while the elections were conducted, worked closely with Blake, Logan, Wyatt, and Chiron. I myself, being a Centurion, had to go to a lot of meetings and drills in preparation for what we knew was coming.

Scott and I had the Order of Romulus working on overtime. With Howard gone, we had no acting alpha, or leader. Instead, Scott and I coordinated the Order as betas, those who were second in command. We went through dozens and dozens of investigations and searches into both the civilian and military population. We both knew that Evan Pravus had left at least one informant behind, while he led the Golden Age Revolution. Still, I couldn't believe someone from within could betray us like that.

Our numbers were reduced with the results of the Golden Age Revolution. We had lost a fifth of the Legion, almost all of our veterans, and Howard. It was hard trying to prepare with him gone. It felt like a huge portion of my life was gone, the same feeling I had when Dad died. But I had to hold myself together. Just about everyone in the Legion, as well as the Greeks, had lost one or both parents to Evan's betrayal. Still, how could one man orchestrate the death of so many in so short of time? Scott and I were intent on finding out.

The Greeks had also suffered losses. Like us, they had their adult population. But unlike us, they lost _all_ of their adult population, having stayed behind to defend their children. They had also lost about two dozen campers. Between Greeks and Romans, as well as those who were trained by Uncle Jacob, we had just a little more than three hundred, nowhere close to enough to defend the city against the hordes of monsters Pravus had at his command. He had to have had thousands, if not millions if he were to take out an entire generation of heroes.

With Pravus and the Golden Age Revolution on everyone's minds, morale was low. The same city that I had grown up in to love, was now beginning to feel like my tomb, a place of eternal rest where I would make my last stand.

Speaking of last stands, the Caldecott Tunnel was still collapsed, cutting off any accessibility. That meant that the only way Pravus could take the city was from the east, toward Mount Diablo. There wasn't much to slow him down once he broke through the hills and mountains that isolated New Rome and Camp Jupiter from the rest of the world. The only defensible positions were Temple Hill and anything the Nomentano district could pull up. Rome was built on seven hills, which provided some kind of defense. Hopefully Hannah would take advantage of that.

Preparations were also being made in the expectation that Pravus would attack from the east. Trenches and palisades were being routinely built and taken down by the Legion, drilling them for when it was going to count. Hannah had said several times that they shouldn't necessarily be ready to build defenses on the east, but rather be ready to set up defenses on the call.

Most of the Legion didn't like that, because now we ended up spending all day setting up and taking down fortifications.

I was supervising the Second Cohort's part of the palisade that was being temporarily set up around the Field of Mars. I could see the Greeks and their encampment from where I stood. For the most part, they hadn't really been welcomed into the city. In the past, they were welcomed under the condition of competitions and such, but this was an entirely different situation. They were refugees, their homes in Camp Half-blood destroyed.

But still, the majority of Roman citizens didn't want Greeks in their city, so they had to stay outside. That was one of the reasons why Hannah was hesitant to let in Daniel and Ellen and the kids from the Black Hand Halfway-House. If it were up to me, I would let them in. Sadly, my house, as big as it was, could only hold so many people.

Ellen Maka came up to me where I was standing over the laboring Second Cohort. She had a worried look on her face.

"Hey, Katrina," she greeted in a slightly timid tone. Ellen was usually not shy or reserved, from what I could tell from her and Daniel living with me. Something was wrong. "How's the work going?"

"Same as usual," I replied plainly. Nobody liked doing the same thing over and over again, especially fortifications. But they were the Praetor's orders. "Hopefully we can take a break soon."

"You know, if you were Praetor, you wouldn't have to do this," Ellen gestured. I thought about that for a moment. Me, as Praetor. Neither of my parents made it past the rank of Centurion, and here I was, readily given the position. All I had to do was take it. But I knew I wasn't up for the job. "I still can't believe you turned it down."

"I didn't think I was the person for the job," I said. "Especially since... Howard. I don't think I'll ever be able to replace him."

"You did an awesome job defending your home full of orphans from those rioters," Ellen said. "Plus you also stopped Thurgood from taking control of the Senate House, all in the same night. I'm pretty sure Howard would be impressed."

"Probably," I said, sighing. "Or he'd criticize me on not doing something right. Anyway, why'd you come by? I'm sure it wasn't to watch us go to work."

Ellen was silent for a moment.

"There was something I wanted to talk to you about," she said, crossing her hands over one another. "You and I are really good friends and cousins, so I can feel like I can trust you by asking you this... so, what do you think of Cameron Smith?"

I smirked.

"So its Cameron, huh?" I asked teasingly. I glanced over to the Greek encampment, where he most likely was. Sure enough, I saw him standing next to Blake. The two of them were talking to... Scott? And his sister, from what I could see. I thought to be strange, considering how rare it was for a Roman to be over there. I met eyes with Cindy and waved to her. Instead of waving back, she gestured to Scott and the others to move to somewhere else.

Rude.

"Sorry, I thought I saw Cam down there," I apologized. Ellen looked like she was still waiting for a response to her question. "Um, Cam? Yeah, he's cool. I guess. Have you tried talking to him? I mean, you _are_ the trained assassin after all."

"I do, but he's been so busy ever since he's gotten here," she said. "Always within ten feet of Blake... Do you think, maybe you could... I don't know, talk to him?"

"Uh, how?" I asked.

"Well, you go to those meetings," Ellen explained. "Since you're Centurion and all... and since he goes to them too, maybe you could... talk to him for me, please."

"... Fine," I gave in. Ellen was trying to act so humble, it was beginning to work. "I'll talk to him at the next meeting."

"Thank you!" Ellen squealed, hugging me. She quickly separated herself from me and gave me a mock salute. "I mean, much appreciated, Sergeant Payne."

"That's _Major_ Payne," I corrected. "Dismissed."

Ellen went off to her duties, which usually meant looking after the Black Hand orphans or relaying information with Daniel, who was probably doing the same thing I was. It was so great having trained assassins living in the same house as you...

Suddenly an alarm went off. Everyone stopped what they were doing, motionless. They looked up to where the sound was coming from, towards the city. The siren sent a sickly feeling toward my stomach. It sounded like one of those old Cold War-esque sirens, meaning only one thing.

It was only to be activated under one condition: We were under attack.

"Drop what you're doing and get to the barracks, now!" I commanded, running with the rest of the Cohort. We made a mad dash to get geared up as quickly as we could, before heading back New Rome. Due to tradition, we couldn't carry weapons past the city limits, so we had to work our away around the city limits. We rallied up into formation with the rest of the Legion on the east side of the city, the only place we could be attacked from.

I caught up with the others and got to my position with the Cohort. Everyone was geared up for war, for a last fight, but their faces told another story. They looked confused... I looked around. Nothing was in front of us, except the valley.

No, there was a small group of people approaching. Not big enough to pose a threat to all of us out here. Not even the Greeks, who had just showed up, ready to aid in the defense. No, they were a small group, just over a dozen, but no more than twenty or thirty, from what I could tell.

Hannah made a landing run from atop her pegasus.

_The coast seems clear... _I heard her pegasus say. The descendants of Neptune were able to commune with most aquatic life, as well equine creatures, including hippocampi and pegasi. _Stand at attention, Centurion Darrow_.

I shot the pegasus a look, causing him to neigh in response. Hannah looked toward my direction and dismounted. Her Praetor armor was impressive, but her expression was not. She looked tired, her blond hair a mess. I'm sure my wasn't any better, but she had to look presentable just about all the time. That was also one of the reasons I didn't want to be Praetor. There were too many expectations made.

"Darrow," the Praetor greeted me.

"Copperfield," I replied. "This isn't attack, but it isn't necessarily a drill, is it?"

"No, this is real," she stated. "I just don't know who they are."

I looked past Hannah and toward the approaching group of people. When they came in closer, I realized they were all girls, wearing similar sliver, glowing parkas. It took me a moment to recognize one of them, but when I did, I was absolutely sure I know who they were.

"These aren't enemies," I said, running towards the approaching group. Blake, Scott, Wyatt, Logan, and a couple of others caught up with me. I heard Hannah mount back up and take off and meet up with us as we made contact with the newcomers.

The girls, like others before them, looked like they had experienced a difficult battle or two. Some of them were injured, others were covered in cuts, bruises, and dirt, all wore weary expressions. Their glowing aura was the only bright thing about them.

"Samara Law," I greeted, extending my hand to the Huntress of Diana, er, Artemis.

"By the Lady's grace, its Katrina Darrow!" the weary Huntress replied. She quickly changed her expression to a slightly more positive one. "By the gods, how long has it been? You've grown so much!"

"Thanks," I said. It was true, I was a big girl. It had been a very long time since I had last seen her. "Its been years, actually. And you haven't changed at all."

"Immortality has its perks," Samara replied. She glanced at the others who had just arrived, and to Hannah, who was descending from her pegasus. "Laurel, we need to get him to a clinic or a medical professional quick."

"We'll need help carrying him," Laurel replied. "He's been packing on the weight over the years and everything."

"We can take him to a clinic in the city," Hannah said, dismounting from her mount and greeting the Huntresses. "I am Hannah Copperfield, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion _Fulminata_- "

"Hannah!" I interrupted. The Praetor glared at me with straining eyes. "I think they get the point."

"Who is he?" Blake asked, pointing to the man laid out on the deer's back.

"Oh, him?" Laurel asked. "He's nobody, _really_. Just Gary Hound, _son_ of _Apollo_."

We had an emergency meeting as soon as the Huntresses were able to get Gary Hound to the Del Sol Clinic. He was put in the Margaret Ward, named after Scott's grandmother, Margaret Ward. The Senate, Huntresses, and some of the representatives from the Greeks met in the Senate House. Samara Law and her friend, another Huntress by the name of Laurel Montgomery explained their story.

"We out on a hunt when we encountered the remains of what looked like a battlefield," Samara explained. "That's where we found the son of Apollo."

"He looked terrible when we found him, but we were able to fix him up a little bit," Laurel interjected. "At least until we got ambushed a couple of times by some big dude."

_Harkin_.

Everyone other than the Huntresses exchanged a look with one another. They all knew how effective Harkin was in battle.

"Thankfully, we didn't have any losses," Laurel continued. "We were able to get our stuff and go. We had to postpone any kind of medical aid on Gary for the journey here."

"We were going to head to Camp Half-blood, but we couldn't an Iris message through, so we came here," Samara said, looking to Hannah. "We were hoping you would know what's going on."

"We're in the middle of a war, lady," Logan said. "Some dude named Evan Pravus is leading a huge effort to destroy us. They already got Camp Half-blood, and most of everyone's parents."

The news came to Samara and Laurel as a shock.

"You mean there are no adult campers left?" she asked. "This is... hard to believe."

"Perhaps Gary knows what happened," Layla suggested. "He _was_ there, after all."

"Get a full security detail to his hospital room, immediately," Hannah said to one of the guards, shooting up to her feet. "I want a full quarantine there, now!"

"Yes, ma'am," one of the guards said, running off to his newly appointed charge.

"Do you know how many we're up against?" the Praetor asked the Huntresses.

"More than what we could handle," Samara answered.

"Otherwise we wouldn't have run," Laurel commented.

"Unless Gary had said anything to you, we haven't learned anything new," Scott said, before looking back at Hannah. "We should conclude our meeting and get back to our duties."

"There was... something he had in his possession," Samara recalled. "But it was meant for an Ellen Maka."

Ellen? What would Gary Hound have anything to do with Ellen Maka?

"I can get that to her," I said. "She's staying at my house."

"Very well, then," Samara said, retrieving something from her parka's pocket. She produced a letter, bloodied and folded. It looked like it had been through a lot, just like its holder. "I can trust that you'll get it to her."

"On my honor," I said, receiving the letter.

Hannah stood up from her seat and concluded the emergency meeting. The Huntresses were quick to set up a campsite next to the Greeks in the Field of Mars, since there wasn't necessarily any place for them inside the city.

I stayed behind, hoping to at least clean off the letter before it got to Ellen. Hannah and Scott went off together after the majority of the people, and Blake waited with me for awhile while I went to work on the letter.

"The city's been pretty hectic lately," Blake said, looking at Hannah and Scott who were walking together, hands held together. "There's been a lot of talk of appointing a dictator."

"How do you know what's been going on in New Rome?" I asked, wiping some blood off of the letter. "I though you didn't get in much."

"I don't," Blake said, scratching the back of his head. "I, uh, hear a lot of rumors when I come to the meetings."

"Okay... " I said blankly.

"Hey, uh, I was wondering... " Blake began to say. "When you're not busy, do you wanna hang out sometimes? Like later?"

"I'm pretty busy," I said. I had a really big grin when I faced away from Blake, hiding my expression. "But I think I may be able to fit something in."

"How about Friday then?" Blake asked. He was trying his best with his smile.

"I can do Friday," I answered.

"Awesome, I'll come by your place at six," Blake said. He gave me a hug and went off to his other duties. "I have some stuff to do, but Friday at six!"

_Its a date._

I was smiling and humming to myself, thinking about Blake. It was nice that he asked me out. There weren't any other guys who did. Howard didn't...

I shook my head when I thought about Howard. He was gone, and there wasn't much I could do to change that. I'm sure this is how he would have wanted it. I think.

I was just about finished when I noticed someone was still in the Senate House. I turned to see who they were, but they stormed off down a corridor, past my point of view. I couldn't tell who it was, so I went off to follow them. I was led on the the pursuit for some time, not even realizing how long we were going for. I was already in a completely different neighborhood before I knew it. Still, this person was intentionally leading me on this walking chase.

Before long, I was approaching the entrance of a very old looking house. It looked like a southern mansion, taking inspiration from Greek and Roman designs. Two very large boys, as big as Wyatt Ward, were out on the front porch. One of them was carving a piece of wood with a knife. The other was looking directly at me.

The weird thing was that whoever I was chasing was nowhere close to these guys in size. The one who was looking at me came walking up to me, holding his hand out to stop me.

"This here's private property, lil miss," the first boy said. The other was soon on his feet, but stayed on the porch, keeping an eye out. "You best be turning around right about now."

"Who's that you got over down there, Otis?" the boy standing by the porch asked. The two of them looked very similar. I was beginning to think that they were brothers.

"Just some soldier girl," Otis shouted back.

"_Centurion_," I corrected, crossing my arms.

"I ain't in no army, lil miss," Otis said back. "You take your marching orders, and you gonna get on out of here. I ain't gonna tell you again, get!"

"I got lost," I said, trying to stall him for whatever reason. "What is this place again?"

"_Private property_," Otis said in a much more coarse voice. He began cracking his knuckles, like he was preparing to fight me. "Now, get."

Just then, an old woman came out of the old house. She was folding some fabrics, examining the situation. She had a very mean look on her face, with her grayed hair and sharp eyes.

"Otis, Dale, just what in Olympus are you two doing making so much racket?" the old woman criticized. She then walked over towards my way, moving Otis aside, despite him towering over her. "Can I help you with anything, miss?"

"Um, I'm lost," I said. "Where is this place?"

The old woman then pointed to a rusted mailbox. Its name was a little hard to read, but when I did, my eyes widened.

_Westfield._

"My mom's maiden name was Westfield," I said, feeling like I just stumbled on to a long, lost part of my family. Mom told me to visit Grandma, who I assumed was her mom, but she ended up being too busy, as was I. I had never knew I had relatives that actually lived in the city. "My name is Katrina Darrow."

"Oh, I've heard about you, Katrina," the old woman said in more cheerier tone. "I heard you turned down the position of Praetor."

"Yeah, I've been reminded of that a lot," I muttered.

"Why don't you come inside?" the old woman invited. "Its been a bit noisy out here lately."

"Um, sure?" I said. Otis glared at me from a distance, but was submissive towards the old woman.

The inside of the old house was impressive. It was like a portal into the past. Each room had really old furniture and ornaments. Some of the stuff looked like it was from ancient Rome or ancient Greece.

"This is a really beautiful home," I complimented her.

"Thank you," she said. "Its taken _years_ to maintain it."

"What did you say your name was again?" I asked. "And, if you don't mind... do you know how are we related, if we actually are?"

"Oh yes, I'm sure you are quite curious," she said. "My name is Agnes, though my two great-grandchildren Otis and Dale refer to me by some silly nickname. And I would be your... great-grandmother, of a sorts."

She looked old, pretty old, but not old enough to be my great-grandmother. Maybe.

"How come we haven't met before?" I asked, leaning forward in a chair. The furniture looked like it was from a previous time period, but it still held up like any other piece.

"As you can tell, I like to enjoy my privacy," Agnes said. "Perhaps a little too much. But it would appear that I have many things to attend to, as do you. Like that letter you possess."

So Agnes _was_ the person who was watching from inside the Senate House and who led me here. There was more to meet the eye with her, but I think I did enough probing.

"Yeah, I should get going," I said, getting up to my feet. "Its been nice talking to you, Agnes."

"You can call me Grandma if you'd like," she commented.

"I'll think about it," I replied.

That night I had the worst series of dreams, like the time I had when Pravus launched his ambush on the Greeks and Romans:

_I found myself standing inside of a ship. It was a massive ship, from what I could tell. Being a descendant of Neptune allowed me to get a natural feel of sea vessels, and in some cases, enact my influence over them. But I could not do much in this dream state. The ship felt very skeletal, like it was dead somehow. I also felt like I was floating, like there was no ground, no water to reach out to. I didn't like it. But I felt I had to continue forward._

_The more I walked forward into the ship, the more distant I felt from everything. The only thing I could constantly hear was the sound of machines, gears, pumps, gas releases. The sounds bore inside my head as they inhaled and exhaled. But soon, I began to hear more... organic sounds._

_It wasn't until I found that there was some kind of prison within the ship. This area was darker in particular, lit only by the small poking of light. In one of these cells was someone I thought I would never see again - Trent Epperson, my cousin who was taken only days ago._

_He was looking at someone, someone who wasn't locked up._

_"You gonna stand there all day or what?" Trent mocked at the person who was examining him from a distance._

_"You look like a lot like your father, you know that?" the person asked. It sounded like a girl. "But you have your mother's eyes. I never got to see much of my mother's eyes, so I wouldn't know whose eyes mine would resemble. Because your father killed my mother."_

_"You really believe that, don't you?" Trent mocked. "Let me guess, your old buddy Harkin told you that?"_

_Tamara's eyes narrowed in on Trent._

_"Open the the cell," Tamara commanded to the guards. "And hold him."_

_The monsters guarding Trent obeyed her, opening the cell and grabbing hold of his arms. Trent tried struggled, but eventually knew he wasn't going to overpower both of them at the same time. Tamara walked into the cell with a baton. She smacked it into her hand repeatedly, her eyes kept steadily on Trent._

_"If you know something, you should say it," Tamara said in a very monotone voice, her face expressionless. "Now, tell me, what do you know."_

_"I don't know what you're- ARGH!" Trent said before bursting out into a full-fledged cry of pain from Tamara's blow to his left leg. Trent's posture from standing on only one good leg, being only held up by the guards._

_"Lie to me, and I hurt you," she said in the same monotonous voice. "Disrespect me or the memory of my mother, and I hurt you. Try to escape, and I hurt you. Are we clear?"_

_"... crystal," Trent muttered, still in pain. Tamara began pacing slowly._

_"Good," she said, pacing around in the cell. "Now tell me everything you know about your father killing my mother."_

_"Ask Harkin," Trent said. "He has all the answers apparently."_

_"... that's not an answer," Tamara said, before swinging at Trent's other leg. Now he was hanging by his arms. "You've run out of legs for me to brake. I might have to move onto something more... serious, unless you start complying. I want clear answers from you, Trent Epperson, as clear as night as day."_

_"You're... twisted, you know that?" Trent asked, still in much pain. "You think your mom would want you to be acting like this?"_

_"If it weren't for your father, I wouldn't have to act like this in the first place!" Tamara screamed, striking at Trent a couple of times. The guards' hold on him slipping, causing him to crash to the floor with a large thud. "Its because of your family that I don't have one! My father never stayed around, Hades, I don't even know him! And since he wasn't there, he couldn't protect her from your father!"_

_Trent wasn't answering. He was too busy trying to protect himself from Tamara's wave of punishing swings. By the end of it, he was shivering, bleeding in some places, and bruised in many others. Tamara stood over him, shaking with her bloodied baton. She tossed it aside and stormed off._

_"Leave him be," she said angrily as she stormed off._

_The scene shifted to a different part of the ship, from what I could tell. There was a very dark presence in the immediate area, there was also something that stirred a lot of anger and resentment within me when I came to this place._

_I stood in the bridge of the ship, where the captain would overlook the ship's operations and such. I tried looking out through the windows that made up most of the walls, but it was no use. It was too dark to see where the ship was headed, but I could see the stars, and lots of them. If it weren't for the current situations, I would've greatly appreciated them. But not now, not like this._

_Evan Pravus sat in what could only be the captain's chair. It was a swiveling chair, which he used to turn to face the backside of the room, which a large map was placed. Evan then swung back around to face the front, where the others were - Harkin, Devin and Dwayne, and then Tamara._

_I immediately clenched my fists at the sight of all of them together._

_"Harkin, we need to to talk," Tamara said to the giant of a man, who was leaning against a rail on the other side of the room. The Coll twins began snickering with one another. "Now."_

_With a stone face, Harkin got up and went over to Tamara, who was already walking out of the room. He shot the Colls a look on his way out._

_"Devin, Dwayne," Evan called out to his comrades. "How many do we have now?"_

_The two twins looked at each other, deciding who would tell Evan the news, but the ended up speaking in unison._

_"Ten thousand," they both said at the same time. Evan turned his chair around to face the map again. I looked at it and realized it was a map of Camp Jupiter, New Rome, and the surrounding mountains. There were a couple of post-it notes on some of the locations. But I couldn't read ancient Greek writing, so it could have been anything._

_"More or less," Devin recalled. "We just had another tribe of giants to join us."_

_"They boarded the ship yesterday," Dwayne expanded._

_"Ten thousand will be enough," Evan said, who looked like he was deep in thought. "Tell the army to be ready to unload at the next stop and march on New Rome by foot while we make final preparations."_

_"It will be done," the Colls said before shadow-traveling from the room._

_Harkin walked back into the room, looking even grumpier than before._

_"I thought you told me you had it under control," Evan said to Harkin, his gold-colored eyes narrowed on the Greek. "I can only assume she's asking about it."_

_"She doesn't know," Harkin replied coldly. "And the only person who would say anything isn't. Even then, she wouldn't believe it from him. He is nothing more than a mere distraction for her, a toy to keep her busy."_

_"I knew taking him alive was a mistake," Evan criticized Harkin's decision on taking Trent. "You should've killed him when you got the chance. We can't even use him for the weapon."_

_"No, but the other one I captured, the Darrow boy, we could use him," Harkin suggested. "I only captured the others to see if they were of use."_

_"Even if Jacob Darrow could withstand the initial use, we'd only be able to get one shot off on the end of the first day. We can't stay above the correct altitude long enough. The next shot would come ten to twelve hours afterward."_

_"If only we could wipe out this camp as quickly as the last one" Harkin complained._

_"But you were the one in the machine last time... " Evan commented. "You enjoy pain, don't you?"_

_"I must constantly break my limits, overcome the next biggest threat," Harkin explained. I got a sick feeling with what he said next. "I knew this when I killed my mother at the age of ten."_

_"You're terrifying," Evan said sarcastically, which made Harkin even more annoyed. "I suppose Jacob Darrow will have to do. I didn't have much luck with young Javier. But do note, he will be worth the acquisition, should he survive the upcoming events."_

_Just then, the Coll twins reappeared back into the room. Their eyes quickly shifted on me, then back to Evan and Harkin._

_"Do you guys feel like you're being watched?" Devin asked aloud, looking up and around the ceiling._

_"By the ever-present of eye of Zeus?" Evan asked. "No, I don't."_

_"I think somebody's watching us," Dwayne stated, looking directly at me. He unsheathed his sword and carefully approached me. Evan and Harkin had their eyes narrowed on the young Coll._

_With caution, Dwayne swung at me._

_"There we go," he said as I rapidly awoke._

My face was covered in sweat and was breathing light and shallow, but many breaths. I had to tell someone about this. I had to.

But I did what I thought was best at the time. I shot up at out of bed and looked for a pen and paper to write down as many details as possible. The Senate doubted me once before, but they would have to listen to me this time. They have to.

The next day I was ready for the regular defense coordination meeting. I wasn't ready for the crowds of people on the way. Blake spotted me in the crowd and ran over to me, helping me through the crowd.

"I guess you guys take elections pretty seriously," Blake shouted to me, as we pushed our way through to the Senate House. "I've gotten at least a dozen flyers from different candidates. Its a mess."

"Yeah, I think I accidentally created an open gap or something," I shouted back. A couple of faces were becoming constantly fixed on me as Blake and I continued through the crowd. "And potential candidates are just fighting to fill that gap."

"Who knew one person _could_ make a difference," Blake said teasingly. I playfully punched him in the shoulder, not realizing how painful that was for him.

"Ouch," Blake whimpered. "That _really_ hurt, you know. You need to layoff the weights, for my sake."

"I think I just heard you ask for another," I replied playfully, giving him another punch on the arm. Some of the people of the crowd were cheering at Blake's pain. "Come on, let's go. I don't like being the center of attention."

At the meeting, I took the time to explain my dream. A lot of the Senate members were keen to listening to me, leaning forward and carefully hearing each word I said. Hannah kept herself impartial, sitting as still as statue, blinking only every now and then. Blake, unlike the others, had his eyes widened when I mentioned a ship.

"I _also_ had a dream of a ship," Blake summarized. "It was... skeletal, but still operational somehow. Something about it was very evil. I didn't like it."

"That's because it _is_ evil," someone said. Heads turned a couple of times to find the speaker. It wasn't until I was looking at the speaker did I realize why I couldn't find him.

Part of his body covered in a body cast, Gary Hound limped forward on his cane. His face showed multiple burns, cuts, and bruises. There was some blood in his eyes, uncovered by the shattered sunglasses that he held in his free hand, which was held up by a cast and sling.

Several murmurs went through the room, from both Greek and Romans.

"What do you mean, it _is_ evil, Uncle Gary?" Scott asked, his eyes piercing, hungry for the truth.

"That ship is the resurrection of the _Princess Andromeda_," Gary said with conviction. There was a lot of pain in his eyes when he said, possibly from all of his friends and fellow campers that he lost. As far as I knew, Gary Hound was the only surviving adult Greek demigod that fled from Camp Half-blood after it was destroyed.

Chiron's face went pale. His mouth hung open in shock.

"That's impossible," he began to say. "It was destroyed, sent to the depths of the Atlantic."

"Well, hate to burst your bubble, Chiron," Gary replied. "But the dead ship has _risen_. Not only is it back from the dead, but it flies, like the _Argo II_ did."

More murmurs spread through the room, so much that Hannah had to call for order this time.

"That what must have destroyed our camp," Lily theorized. "That must be their weapon."

"Not exactly," Gary said somberly. "Its equipped with a some kind of power beam, capable of burning all the oxygen in a given space. The Pravus guy used it destroy camp and kill my friends... your parents."

There was a collective silence from everyone. Gary's broken form perfectly described our outlook.

"Yet you survived?" Jade Cramer asked.

Gary looked at himself for a moment, then at his broken sunglasses.

"Barely," he explained. "This is how look _after_ nectar and ambrosia treatment."

There was an awed silence from everyone. Evan Pravus and his fellow collaborators were in possession of what must have been the most powerful weapon of our time. Its power was clear, having destroyed an entire camp, completely leveled to the ground, with one attack. It had also completely wiped out, save for one, an entire generation of Greek demigods. There was no doubt that we were afraid, that the situation was dire. At this rate, we faced extinction, the end of all demigods as we knew it. But we also knew we had to work together to destroy it.

Because we either fought together, or died alone.

Just then, a noise from outside grew rapidly. Some of the people in the meeting rose to their feet, but Hannah simply raised her hand.

"Sit, its just the chaos of elections," the Praetor explained. "Though that is something we must also discuss- "

Just then, some screaming was and shouting exploded from outside. I wasn't going to have Hannah tell me it was just political squabbles. I ran outside with a couple of others to see what was going on.

Crowds of people were fighting each other, others bearing signs of candidates for Praetor. I had never seen the people of New Rome use so much violence against one another.

"Call for the Senatorial Guard!" Hannah shouted to one of the guards. "We need to maintain order in the city!"

"Ma'am, the entire force has been dispatched!" the guard shouted back to the Praetor. "There's no other units available."

The weary Praetor angrily rubbed her eyes. I then had an idea.

"There's us," I suggested, running into the crowd without waiting for her approval. Blake, Logan, Wyatt, Lily, Layla, and a couple of others ran in with me. "Stop fighting! Just stop!"

"Isn't a little contradicting that we're using force to stop violent forces?" Logan asked while shoving some people back away from the stairs to the Senate House. "What, just me?"

"Just hold them back, Logan!" I shouted back to him. Never had I been so close to the chaos, so close to the violence. "You need to seize and desist!"

There was something going through the crowd. Some of them stopped fighting, looking toward my way. They then put their efforts to stopping the others from inciting violence. I was speechless. I looked over to Layla Lobo, who was a descendant of Aphrodite, the Greek Venus, who would've been the only person capable of charming people to follow a verbal command. But she was looking at me with the same expression.

"Please, stop," I pleaded with the people, after the violence had stopped. I was looking at many faces now, and I hated it. I hated being the center of attention. "Return to your homes. We are doing our best to coordinate defenses, but we can't do that if there isn't peace. Please, go home."

There were a couple of side-discussions, but the majority of the people dispersed. I shook my head and went back to the Senate House. Things were bad enough Evan Pravus trying to wipe us off the map. We didn't need the city collapsing from the inside. We might as well hand over our lives to the Golden Age Revolution if that were the case.

Back in the Senate House, Hannah was trying to get everyone under control. There seemed a general lack of unity I went.

"I don't need a _Roman_ telling me what to do!" Wyatt complained to Blake, his best friend. "They don't know what we went through. They still have their home, we lost ours to a Roman!"

"Wyatt, dude, we're guests here," Blake pleaded with Wyatt Ward. Blake was a legacy of Zeus and Apollo, making him and Hannah cousins, somehow. "Even as refugees. They didn't have to let us stay here, but they did."

"They won't even let us in the city," Logan said to Layla. "We're like outsiders."

"Hey, at least we weren't the ones to attack first," Cain sneered. "We lost Andrew Wood because of you guys!"

Brynn Wood withdrew from the scene, burying her face into her hands from where she sat. Hannah was split between having to stop the arguing and comforting Brynn. Hannah's eyes met mine. She was scared, confused, desperate. Like Howard, it was near impossible to see them at their most vulnerable, to watch their reputation as a confident leader crumble into nothing in seconds.

I felt like I had to step in to keep the peace... again. So I did. Heading straight for Wyatt, the biggest person in the room, I pulled him by the collar and got right into his face.

"ENOUGH!" I shouted into his face. I was so angry with them, with everything. I felt my face become a thousand times hotter. "You think we don't know what its like to lose our parents, to lose our homes?"

I pointed at Scott Ward, his cousin through their mutual paternal grandmother.

"Scott lost his mom at the age of four!" I shouted.

"I know that!" Wyatt shouted back.

"Do you know how his dad died?" I asked aloud to him, then to everyone else in the room. "His father was killed in a bombing. He didn't get to spend his last moments with his son. He didn't get to tell his son goodbye! He was killed in explosion that destroyed Howard Amos' home! And he too is gone! Trent had his parents killed in front of him _and_ his home was burnt down!"

I pushed Wyatt back into his seat and went over to Cain.

"And you!" I shouted at Cain as I stood over him. "You think that everything you've been through you can go around and starting ruckus? You think Andrew would like to remembered like that? Look at his sister! Look at her! Look at her now!"

I had to physically force Cain to look at Brynn who was still sobbing. Jade Cramer went over to comfort her.

When I was finished with Cain I went to go deal with Logan, who had a similar heritage as me, albeit the Greek version.

"What, you're gonna try to talk me down?" Logan said, standing up to show that he was in charge. He had height over me, but I was angry. And height couldn't measure up to that. "Lets see you try to- "

"SIT DOWN!" I shouted at him. He must've not been expecting it, but he complied immediately.

Logan was silent for a moment, his eyes wide. I got up into his face, my breathing heavy for a moment. When I got that under control, I spoke with a normal tone.

"How could _you_ know how we feel?" my cousin asked. "You weren't there. You don't know."

"Logan, Logan," I said normally. "Look at me. Logan, they took my brother. My dad died before all of this, and he's been gone since then. My mom left for a quest, and has been gone for some time. Pluto, I honestly don't if she's going to come back or not. I survived an explosion. That same explosion that killed others. Howard was my best friend, and _he's_ dead. My house is full of orphans from a place that no longer exists. Some guys tried to burn down _my_ house with said orphans. So do not, ever, hesitate as to whether or not I understand, because. I. Understand."

I let Logan sit there for a moment and let him think things out for a bit.

"Um, Katrina... " Layla began to say, pointing to where Hannah was standing, which was behind me.

I turned around and saw the Praetor stripping off her Imperial golden armor. Her purple toga was laid out on a nearby. The armor fell to the ground with a large metallic thud that echoed through the room. Hannah was expressionless as she took off her office uniform. When she was finished, she was naked. Not literally, but naked of the Praetor outfit I had always seen her in. Underneath it all, she was just like me, a purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt with gold printing. She was wearing shorts. I would have never known if she kept her outfit on.

"Hannah, what are you- " I began to ask, before she cut me off.

"I resign," she simply said. I was confused. Hannah had always been the ideal person for Praetor, after Howard. Why would she ever quit? Especially now? "I resign because official law states that a Praetor cannot nominate an individual for dictator. So, as I resign, I nominate you, Katrina Darrow, for dictator."

The whole room was silent. I was silent. I felt all eyes slowly shift towards me.

My mouth was moving, but no words were coming out.

"W-what?" I uttered. "We... we have those?"

"We... we could only choose one in times of great crisis... like now," Scott said to himself. "And the last dictator we had was... Julius Caesar, but that was for... "

"_Perpetuus_," Blake spoke.

Scott and Cameron looked at Blake with big eyes and open mouths.

"I mean, uh, permanent," Blake quickly said. "That's what it means, uh, I think."

No one really paid much attention to Blake.

"But since I am technically no longer part of the Senate, I cannot vote for the nomination," Hannah said, a hint of defeat in her voice. "Will any of you second my motion?"

"I... I don't know about this," Daniel said. "But, I will second the motion. I vote Katrina for dictator."

"I vote Katrina for dictator," Jade said, still trying to comfort Brynn, who was starting to be okay.

"I vote Katrina for dictator," Gwen and Joanna both said.

"I-I v-vote Katrina for dictator," Brynn said, sniffling. Her eyes were puffy from crying.

"Darn, there goes my chance," Cain joked. "_Pero sí._ I vote Katrina for dictator."

The other Centurions did the same, they all voted for me to be dictator. It was just down to Scott.

"This is more like a sentence," Scott commented. He seemed really worried. I was too. This was a possible dictatorship with me at the head for crying out loud! "A dictator would be endowed with all powers, no restraints, no repercussions waiting for you when the term was finished. Absolute power. Rome has always hated the fear of having a king, but you so easily turned down and walked away from Praetor, even when it was being readily handed to you. You _don't_ want power. You are the perfect person for dictator. I vote Katrina for dictator."

"Gee, thanks, Scott," I said to him sarcastically. He wiped his face a couple of times.

"Then it is unanimous," Hannah said, going up to the statue of Lupa nursing Romulus and Remus, a symbol of the Roman Republic. She then pulled out a hammer and struck the statue, revealing something hidden within it.

She then walked back to me, all eyes on her, with a laurel wreath in her hands. She slowly placed it on my head and got a different kind of purple toga, one with a gold embroidering on it. It was then placed on me, in front of everyone.

I hated it. I wanted to rip it off, throw the laurel wreath somewhere away from me.

I didn't want to be dictator, as Scott said, this wasn't something I couldn't walk away from. They _needed_ me. I _had_ to this, not for me, but _for everyone else_.

I sighed, the laurel wreath feeling like a bull's eye on my head.

"You are hereby Katrina Darrow," Hannah announced. "Dictator of New Rome."

Everyone in the room applauded, although some their faces told a different story. Most of them were still in shock. I knew I still was.

"Since I'm dictator, I can do anything I want, right?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied. "_Anything_."

"Then I reinstate you to Praetor," I commanded.

"What, you can't do- " Hannah began to argue. "... fine."

Some of the people in the Senate House snickered.

"If I'm going to be a good dictator, then I'll need all the help I can get," I explained to Hannah, to everyone. "Hannah, you're the brains between the two of us. I want you to coordinate the defense. What you say goes. Strategy, tactics, you name it. I just have one request."

"Just one?" the reinstated Praetor asked.

"Yeah, just one," I replied. "I want to be in the fighting up close, not behind a city."

"It isn't very strategic to put our dictator up front," Hannah commented. "But it will provide some morale if you are seen by our units."

"Blake, I need you to work close with Hannah," I said to him. "If we're going to make best use of both Romans and Greeks, we'll need you guys to see eye to eye. Got it?"

"No problems here," Blake said.

"Gwen, and Joanna, I want you to have our missile units trained," I told the two twins, both of them being my cousins and legacies of the Greek Apollo. They were hybrids, both Greek _and_ Roman, as well as the two Centurions for the Fifth Cohort. If anyone was going to lead our missile troops, it was going to be them. "Samara and Laurel, you and your group will be in charge of reconnaissance. Your ability to evade Harkin and his army will prove invaluable."

"We'll set out immediately," Samara said. Laurel nodded in approval.

"Jade, Logan, and Brynn," I called. They all perked up as soon as I said their names. "You three are going to be in charge of leading the ground troops. I want you to teach each everything you know about fighting."

"Its about time we got some payback!" Logan cheered.

"I concur," Jade agreed.

"For Andrew," Brynn said, her eyes still a little puffy.

I looked at Scott, who was eagerly awaiting his assignment. I knew where he would be best used.

"You know, I could get _mi padre's_ er... 'group,' " Cain suggested. "I would just have to make a quick stop at Oakland."

"Do it," I said. "Any ally we can get, we'll take. And that goes for everyone."

"I'll go now," Cain said, getting up from his seat and leaving immediately. "_Buena suerte_, dictadora_._"

"I should get the word around," Wyatt said, getting up as well. "I don't think my people will understand if a Roman started suddenly bossing them around."

"Go," I said, fully agreeing with him.

"We'll go inform the troops," Jade said. "Come on, Logan."

"But I like war meetings!" he pleaded before leaving.

"I'll get the word around, about today's events," Hannah said. She went over to give Scott a kiss before leaving. Everyone was making noises when that happened.

There were still some people left, some of which I told I would have something for them later, Some of those people included Layla and Cameron. Scott and Blake were discussing among themselves while I was talking to Daniel.

"What can I do?" the Greco-Roman hybrid asked me.

"I need you and Ellen to... _protect me_," I admitted to him. I hated to admit it, but now that I was dictator, I was now a prime target for Evan, or anyone else for that matter. "I don't mean like throwing yourself in front of me, not like that. I mean keeping an eye out for me. Not everyone in this city is exactly pro-dictator."

"I understand," Daniel told me. "I'll got tell her immediately."

"Thanks," I said as he left.

That just left Scott and Blake to talk to. They came over as soon as Daniel left.

"So, dictator, huh?" Blake greeted me. "Fitting, considering that iron fist of yours."

I let that one slide. I was a _merciful_ dictator, after all.

"But now that you are, I think you'll be able to handle this next bit of information," Scott said, glancing at Blake, who nodded, then back at me. "We'll have to go somewhere quiet."

"Lead the way then," I told Scott.

I had next to zero idea what I was getting myself into.

Scott led us to somewhere I had been before. We were at Agens' house, my great-grandmother's... sort of. Otis and Dale were outside as usual. They quickly approached us soon as they as they saw us coming.

"What business do you have here?" Otis asked us.

"Don't you remember me?" I asked him. He glanced over to me, but kept a stern face. "I'm your cousin, er, second-cousin, I think."

"He wasn't talking to you," Dale muttered. "The ginger and the Greek."

Scott's eyes narrowed in on Dale.

"I bring word from the _Dynastes_," Scott said, his eyes still trained on Dale. Otis and Dale exchanged a look.

"Then who is this?" Otis asked, pointing at Blake. "We don't like _his_ kind around here."

Scott sighed disappointedly.

"The Westfields have been remote for many centuries, but I did not think they were that far from recognizing _him_," Scott said, annoyed. "I am his Ward."

"Oh... " Dale said.

They then allowed into the house, where Agnes was watering some plants. She was surprised to see me and the others.

"Katrina, how nice to see you again," she greeted me, keeping an eye on both Scott and Blake. "I see you brought company."

"Uh, they sort of brought me," I said, scratching the back of my head. I really had no idea what was going on.

"Yes, we did," Scott spoke up. "I did."

"Then he is who I think he is?" Agnes asked Scott.

"I am," Blake said, stepping in. "I wish to assemble the families. There is much to discuss."

"Yes... there is," Agnes said, looking at Blake up and down with disgust. "Wait here. It will be some time before they will all be here. That will leave some time for you to explain to her."

"What?" I asked, confused.

My mind was racing with questions. Some of them were about Agnes herself, others were about Scott and how he was somehow representing Blake for... _something_. There had been too many things happening that day, so I began to feel light-headed. Blake ran over to me as soon as my legs were feeling wobbly. He helped sit down on a nearby seat.

"Whoa, easy there," Blake said gently. "Scott, can you get her a glass of water? She looks like she's going to pass out on us."

"Then she won't get to find out all the secrets we've keeping," Scott joked as he left for the kitchen.

He came back in a minute, handing me the glass of water, which I sipped on. Meanwhile, Blake was there with me, making sure I was alright. Scott was back over in a corner, his arms crossed.

"Should we start from the beginning?" Blake asked Scott. The augur nodded, causing Blake to sigh. "Very well then."

Blake pulled up a seat up in front of mine. Scott was fine in his corner. Blake took a moment before beginning.

"You remember the Trojan War?" Blake asked me. I nodded. It was mostly a Greek story, a story where the won over the Trojans. "Well, when Troy fell, some of the Trojans escaped. One of them was Aeneas. He was a son of Venus- "

"Wait, what does this have to do with anything?" I interrupted. I was getting even more confused. The Trojan War was well over two thousand years old. Surely something like that didn't matter.

"Aeneas fled Troy and founded what would become Rome," Scott interjected. "Blake, Cameron, and your mother are just some of his descendants."

The pieces started connecting. But I was only scratching the surface. I wanted to go further, to dig deeper into the truth.

"We are part of a secret society," Blake continued. "We are the _Ultimum Troaie_, the last of the Trojans."

At last, everything became clear.

"I knew it, you were able to speak in Latin," I said, pointing my finger at him. "I knew I had heard you speak it today."

"Yes, something he should be more careful of doing, especially in front of the Senate," Scott scolded Blake.

"Sorry, I was just as surprised as the next person when you dictators were being brought up," Blake admitted. I was just as surprised too. Even more so than him, being the one that was voted to be dictator. "I still can't believe I just saved the dictator of Rome."

I blushed a little.

Agnes returned, with two familiar faces, Cameron Smith and Cindy, Scott's younger sister. I waved at them both, and received the same gesture back.

"Some of the families will be here shortly," Agnes stated to us all, including Otis and Dale who had just come in. "The others will be here within the following days."

"That will be sufficient, matriarch Westfield," Scott said. "Blake, there's some stuff you and I need to go over before we get started."

"Right," Blake said. He looked back to me, his hand placed on top of mine. "Things are about to get interesting."

Blake then left with Scott. They said they weren't going too far, but that it was really important. I decided I would get some answers out of Blake and Cindy.

From what Blake and Scott had told me, Mom, Blake, and Cam were all descendants of Aeneas. That meant that I was also one of his descendants.

"I take it Blake and Scott spilled the beans?" Cameron asked, initiating the conversation. I nodded. "Well then, I guess that makes us... really, really distant cousins. So, that's cool"

"I guess," I said to myself. That meant Blake and I were somewhat related. I quickly purged those thoughts out of my mind and sought out some answers from Cam. "What about Cindy and Scott, how do they fit into this?"

"Well, we have this kind of unofficial leader," Cameron explained. "It used to be Alex Courtenay, Blake's dad, but now... its Blake. The oldest child inherits the title of _Dynastes_. As for Scott and Cindy, their dad was the Ward of the Dynastes. Scott is the official Ward. Should anything happen to him, Cindy might have to take up on Ward."

"... right," Cindy muttered. It was hard to tell, but I thought I heard some kind of speech impediment when she spoke. She looked away, not wanting to add anything more.

_Dynastes_.

That was the Latin word for prince.

"So Blake's some kind of prince?" I asked. "A prince of what?"

"Um, its more of a title," Cam clarified. "We're descendants of Aeneas. In theory, his lands belong to us. But since we're not mainstream, or even heard of, its going to be a long time before we reclaim our homeland."

"Is that the goal?" I asked. Troy wasn't just lost, it was destroyed. What good would it do to reclaim a bunch of rubble?

"To be honest, I don't know," Cam admitted. "We've been trying to keep the legacy continuing, which is hard enough with all the changes in technology and everything. Some of us want to rule Rome, others want to stay isolated."

"But, what do _you_ want?" I asked.

Cam was silent for a moment, his eyes searching for the words he wanted to speak.

"I want my parents back," he said, looking back at me. He sighed, looking away for a moment. "I want a place to call home again."

"Cam... " I tried to say. I wanted to talk about Ellen with him, but knew that this wasn't the proper stage for that.

"I'm fine," he reassured me. "Its not me you should be worried about. There are others who need it more than I do. Poor Andrew, poor poor Andrew... "

He buried his face in his hands. When he pulled his head out from them, his eyes were puffy and red.

"I tried not to, but I couldn't... " he said in a coarse voice. "He was coming at me too fast. I acted out of hesitation, fear. I'm the reason why Andrew didn't come home."

"Oh, Cam," I said, reaching out for him. I did my best to comfort him, but he was giving off the impression that he was better off without it.

"You should go," Cindy said in her slurred speech. Seriously, what was up with her?

But I had to agree. If the meeting wasn't going to happen today or tonight, then I wasn't doing anything by just waiting around. Getting up, I placed a hand on Cam's shoulder. He looked up at me and nodded. I returned the gesture and left.

Ellen was going to be upset with me. She wasn't home, but soon came to my room later in the night.

She was holding the letter that Gary Hound had been carrying. It was still bloodied, but long dried. Ellen's face looked like it had seen better days.

"Ellen, what's wrong?" I asked. She came over sat next to me, handing me her letter. "What... ?"

I read through the letter once, twice, and then a third time just to make sure I wasn't misreading it. My heart stopped for a second each time I saw the same sentence. Over and over.

_Gary Hound is your father._

I turned to look at Ellen. She was definitely changed by the information in this letter. I was too.

"I don't know what to do," she said. "What if he isn't, what if my mom was wrong? I'm so confused."

"Hey, hey, lets just take a moment to breath," I said to Ellen, trying to calm her. It took her awhile, but eventually she started calming down. "Maybe tomorrow, you should go and talk to him."

"Do you think I should?" she asked me.

"Yes, I do," I replied.

Leaning back in the couch, I sighed. It had only been my first day as dictator and already I was being overwhelmed by so many things. I could understand that being praetor was difficult enough, as with Hannah... _and Howard_, but now I was the sole ruler of Rome. I had absolute power over everyone in this city. I was scared of that kind of power.

"What's wrong?" Ellen asked me. Her faced had cleared up.

"I forgot to do that favor for you," I admitted, just now realizing I did.

"Cam?" she asked. "That's okay. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I said. "Tomorrow."

I was a little disappointed in myself. I had told Ellen I would talk to Cam for her, but I ended up not being able to. I couldn't, especially at the time and place we were at. Plus, he wasn't emotionally ready for that kind of thing. _He_ killed Andrew Wood, the only thing Brynn, his sister, had left. But it was in self-defense. Plus, Cam wasn't the kind to revel in that kind of thing. He seemed like he regretted it.

But that brought a question to mind. Would I have to kill someone? Whether or not it is in self-defense? I didn't think I was ready for that. I was only 16 years old. This wasn't supposed to be the age where I considering doing those kinds of things. Normal girls my age don't have to go through the same things I do. Which is what makes me so different from them. Although I have less Olympian potency in my blood, I am still so far away from being human. Neither human nor demigod, just somewhere in between.

I tried sleeping that night. Most of the night was spent restlessly turning about in my bed. But then there the dreams. Most of them were worries, fears I had. Fears of what has happened, what is happening, and what is to happen. Sleep was like another battlefield, where I fought to maintain some kind of peace. The Golden Age Revolution took the peace away from every aspect of my life. But in my dreams, I still had a chance, a fight, to hold onto it.

Seeing Dad was my peace.

_I didn't realize it, but once I finished all of the bad dreams, I was finally able to find a nice one. I was in my house. It was dark, the windows closed, the lights turned off. The only light came from the fireplace. It was the only warmth I could find there. The blanket I was wrapped around didn't help as much as it should, but Dad's arm around me did._

_"It's getting cold, Dad," I said, snuggling up with him to get some warmth._

_"I know," he responded._

_I watched the flames flicker and dance in front of my eyes. The fire was like a living person, breathing in, and breathing out. So warm, so bright. So alive. This house was not alive. It was empty, cold, and desolate._

_"It will get worse," Dad said suddenly._

_"What do you mean?" I asked him._

_"It will get worse before it gets better," Dad explained. "Be ready for that."_

_Be ready for that._

I wasn't ready for it.

I wasn't ready for the public declaration I had to give regarding my ascension to dictator. The people had to know about the decision the Senate made. Because there can be no government without its people.

There were hundreds, if not thousands of people in front of me. Civilians, off-duty soldiers, and refugees. I imagined what other people who had to talk to this many people like me had to go through. I thought of people like Martin Luther King Jr., the President of the United States, Julius Caesar.

"Yesterday, on August 20, 2030, the Senate of New Rome, in a state of emergency and distress, declared me, Katrina Charlotte Darrow, dictator, granting me emergency powers both unlimited and absolute within reason," I began, speaking into several microphones on a podium. The stage was several feet above the ground, giving me a clear view of everyone was watching, listening. _All_ eyes were on me. Not just a dozen, the eyes of the Senate, but _all_ eyes were on me. "I will exercise my power as dictator without restraint and without checks or balances until the cause of this state of emergency has been terminated, so help me gods of Olympus."

There was nothing to compare to the sound the crowds made. A sea of cheers, roars, applaud and praise, all at once. Nothing in Dad's video scrolls could prepare me for this. Nothing in the world could prepare me for this.

A collective chant began growing through the crowds. They were shouting my name in unison. Fists were being raised. A warpath-like sentiment was growing within the people. For all intents and purposes, we were at war, by an enemy known as the Golden Age Revolution.

"... and for my first act as dictator, I declare war... on the Golden Age Revolution," I decreed. I was met by a wave of approval. There was a sense of zeal that grew within the people. It was frightening to think how far it could go. I looked to some of the Greeks who were out in the crowds. Blake, Wyatt, Logan, Layla, Derek, and Lily were there. Blake winked at me and smiled, Wyatt nodded, and Logan was pounding his chest. Layla and Lily smiled. It was clear that I was going to have to rely on these people in the days to come. "I must also institute quartering for our Greek allies. We can not fight this fight alone."

There was some disapproval in the crowds, but some of my Roman friends enticed them, getting the crowd to generally go with it. Even if I was, although temporarily, supreme ruler of Rome, I was going to need everyone to work with me, and not against each other.

That meant I was going to have to do the impossible - to unite the Greeks and Romans for the first time in 20 years. I found this kind of ironic, especially since Dad used to be ambassador to the Greeks, where he strived for the same goal. I wasn't sure if he would be proud of the means I was undertaking, whether or not they were my choice.

Gods, I sure wish I had Dad helping me out right about now.

That night I was led to a secret meeting place somewhere in New Rome. Cindy was escorting Cam and I, while Blake and Scott stayed back for a bit. Cindy opened the door to some staircase where only candles and oil lamps on the sides illuminated the ancient passageway. I had a very odd feeling about this place.

"This place gives me the creeps," I said under my breath. A chill ran up and down my back the further I went in. "Where are we?"

"A very, very old part of the city," Cindy said in her slurred speech.

When we arrived to the massive room, I was surprised to see other people there. I knew absolutely none of them, but they were quick to become aware of Cam, Cindy, and I. Cam kept his head down and Cindy tried not to make eye contact with anyone. That just left me for easy prey. I was about to retreat, when a hand touched my shoulder. I looked and saw it was Agnes, smiling. Otis and Dale weren't even six inches away.

"Let's meet the family," Agnes said to me. She pulled me away from Cam and Cindy, who quickly took to a corner to avoid having to talk to other members of the Ultimum Troaie.

It was kind of amazing to be related to so many people, all of us tracing our lineage back to Aeneas. It made me think if I was really a Roman legacy, or a Trojan legacy. I met and talked to people who were from different parts of the country, some who lived in other parts of the world. They didn't seem like the descendants of Trojans, parading in USC sportswear. But then again, neither had I. They were regular people like me. Well, not exactly. Some of them were demigods, others were demigod legacies. Most were just legacies of Aeneas, about as mortal as they could get. Small details like this almost created barriers of developing some kind of relationship with my kin.

Some of the others took to not liking me right off the bat. One of them said something about Darrow's being homicidal maniacs. I would have gone and have some strong words with him, but Agnes had pulled me aside before any courses of action were taken.

She brought me to a large statue that stood at one side of the room. It was some kind of sculpture or statue of two men armed for battle and war, one of them was standing over the other, plunging his sword into his defeated opponent.

"This is the duel between Aeneas and Turnus, king of Rutulia," Agnes explained. I looked up at the triumphant Aeneas, my great-great... great grandfather, who hovered relentlessly over the defeated Turnus. From what I saw, it seemed to me that Aeneas was not merciful to Turnus. "The two had become rivals. Turnus was originally supposed to marry Lavinia, king Latinus' daughter, but a prophecy foretold that she would marry a foreigner."

_Propose no Latin alliance for you daughter,_

_Son of mine; distrust the bridal chamber_

_Now prepared. Men from abroad will come_

_And be your sons by marriage. Blood so mingled_

_Lifts our name starward. Children of that stock_

_Will see all earth turned Latin at their feet,_

_Governed by them, as far as on his rounds_

_The Sun looks down on Ocean, East or West._

The oration was given perfectly by Agnes, without a single error in her words, like she had been saying it her entire life.

"Turnus then waged war on the Trojans in ancient Italy," Agnes continued. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Our future had never looked so grim then. Turnus was good, even killing young Pallas, a son of sorts, and taking his sword-belt. Fueled by rage, Aeneas kills his way to Turnus."

"So he killed him after killing a bunch of other guys?" I asked. "Sounds like we'd be related."

"No, Aeneas never got to Turnus in that fight," Agnes explained to me. "Instead, Juno intervened, luring Turnus away so that he might be spared, for a while. Aeneas ended up killing Lausus instead."

"This is beginning to sound like _the Iliad_," I commented. Some people said some unkind things in response to my statement.

"The Greeks aren't exactly welcomed here," she explained. I glanced over to Cam, who was awkwardly trying to avoid talking to anyone, along with Cindy. I felt bad him. I was Roman, which gave me exempt from being hated as a Greek, but Cam had no choice. He was just as much Greek as he was a descendant of Aeneas. "But you'll find that history tends to repeat itself."

No kidding.

"So how did these two come to their final battle?" I asked Agnes. She took another deep breath, preparing herself.

"Eventually they come to duel to the death," she said. "Although Turnus was a good warrior, Aeneas was very, very angry. I'm sure you know how much that helps in a fight."

This was me she was talking about. I mean, come on.

"Turnus, as a last effort, pleaded for mercy when faced with death," Agnes said, gesturing to the statue. "But when Aeneas saw Pallas' sword-belt, he instantly slew him in rage. Although, the statue doesn't exactly show how it happened. But that's for another discussion... "

Just then, murmurs grew and heads turned to face the newcomers. Blake, along with Scott, walked into the room of Trojans. Blake scanned the room a bit. I smiled when his eyes met mine.

"... a Greek, in here?" one of the Trojans exclaimed. He and a couple of others advanced towards Blake, but Scott stepped in and glared at them. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Blake put his hand on Scott's shoulder, encouraging him to stand down. Scott reluctantly complied, taking a step back.

"I am a Greek, yes," Blake admitted. "But I have inherited the title of Dynastes from my father, Alex Courtenay."

"Your father wasn't a Greek," an opposer sneered.

"To the contrary, he was," Blake corrected him. "My father was the son of both Sue Courtenay, who you know as Sue McRoy, and the Greek god Zeus."

There were murmurs amongst the Trojans. I was a little nervous myself. Being inside the city, as before, I was unarmed. The only thing that I could use to defend myself and my friends would probably be a rock. And that was against dozens of adult Trojans. My hands were ready for action, should the need arise.

"I did not choose to be born this way, yet I am," Blake said truthfully. "Surely, my mixed heritage will allow us influence into not just Rome, but in the home of the Greeks as well?"

I narrowed my eyes on Blake. What was his angle? As a member of the Order of Romulus, it was my job to root out organizations that sought to control Rome, a secret police of sorts. But like Blake, I had no choice in my heritage. I was a Trojan. And Scott was Blake's Ward, as well as a member of the Order. Who's side was supposed to take? I made an oath to the Order, but by birth, I was bound to serve the Trojans. This only complicated everything for me.

"If our Dynastes is Greek, then we should go about getting a new one," an inciter suggested. Some of the others were taking kindly to the idea, slowly creeping towards Blake and Scott. "Don't worry, boys, we have the bloodlines mapped out. We'll know who to crown."

While I wasn't anti-Greek, I didn't necessarily agree with the Trojans' goal of eventually retaking Rome. The age-old resentment for Greeks may have been a lot older than me, but I was going to put aside for now. If the city was going to operate as a unit, then I would have to exert my authority.

"That won't be necessary," I said, stepping in between them. "I declare that harming Blake Courtenay or Cameron Smith will result in a harsh penalty."

"You have no claims to that kind of authority, girl," one of them said. "Who do you think you are, some kind of dictator?"

"Actually, yes, I do," I stated. The faces of the opposers went grim for a moment, even pale. Some of them stepped back. Others took a knee. "Stand up. Look, I may not share the same hate for Greeks as most of you do, but I'm not about to let this city fall apart from within under my watch. Whatever you have, needs to put aside for now. Bury the hatchet."

"For now," one of the opposers said reluctantly.

"You guys should be worried about Pravus," I said.

"Pravus is just one man," someone said.

"Agamemnon was just one man," Agnes said, stepping forward. Otis and Dale provided some space for her by pushing some people aside. "He had an entourage of distinct individuals at his beck and call: Achilles, Odysseus, Ajax. Our new enemy, Pravus, has the same. A giant of a man, a slayer of assassins, and two traitors to the Legion."

"If we focus on small distractions like this, you'll lose your city... _again_," I said, hoping to get them to work together.

It was a lot to hope for, but eventually, they were able to put their hatred of Blake and Cam aside. I knew it was only temporary, but that was so much more to go off of then what I had before. Deep inside, I was surprised I was able to get them to stop. First the Greeks and Romans, now the Ultimum Troaie. Maybe having a dictator in times like these was necessary after all.

"We have to prepare the Troaie for war," Blake said. "When the fighting comes, we will have an opportunity to reclaim our lost honor."

"For Troy!" Scott shouted. Cindy and Cam joined in. I did as well. Soon, everyone was in the shout. Everyone, except Agnes.

_For Troy!_

It was on the next day, August 22, 2030, when we were in our final stages of preparation. Cain had returned from Oakland with some friends. They called themselves the Chaotics gang. Cain's father, Nero Alvarez, lead the the gang. They were about the scrappiest of people to ever go past the Pomerian Line. I had to spend a couple of hours with Terminus, the border god, to allow weapons over the line.

"You can't do this!" Terminus barked from his marble base. "I'm slapping you for your heresy, Darrow! Can you feel it? I'm slapping you!"

"Terminus, we need the line's security disabled so we can provide a decent defense," I explained. "We can't fight out in the field and hope to stand a chance. Beside, I'm dictator, so what I say goes."

"Dictator?" Terminus said, his face lighting up. Sort of. "Recognizing user input. Welcome back, dictator. Your last visit was: 2079 years, 6 months, 8 days, and 25 minutes ago, under user identification: Gaius Julius Caesar. Most recent action: Crossing the Rubicon river."

I gulped. The last person to do this kind of thing ended up assassinated. I made a silent prayer to Neptune and Mars that I would not meet the same fate.

"Are you sure you want to disable the Pomerian Line?" Terminus asked in his reboot voice. "Warning, all magical defenses will be inactive while disabled."

I had to think about this, but there was only one choice. We stood no chance of taking Pravus out in the open field. Our best bet was to use the city and its defenses. Trenches outside of the city would only slow the enemy down. They were only a short-term defense.

"Yes, deactivate the Pomerian Line," I commanded.

Terminus was silent for a moment. The ground shook for a second then stopped. Once that was over, Terminus returned to his normal state.

"Welcome to the Pomerian Line," Terminus said to Cain's father. "Its nice to see you again, retired soldier Alvarez and Centurion Alvarez. How can I be of assistance?"

"Gods, this is scarier than the real Terminus," Mr. Alvarez cursed under his breath. Whistling loudly, he ordered his gang to move in. "Alright, boys, lets set up shop!"

The three of us crossed over the line without any problems. I'm sure both Cain and his father were armed enough to make the real Terminus go ballistic. The Pomerian Line really was shut down. Another small victory of mine.

_Vivere Darrow!_

Just right outside of the city was our staging ground. It was weird having all of these weapons so close to the city, but it made me feel better knowing we were taking every precaution. Tents were erected and ditches and trenches were being dug up. The Chaotics gang was setting up traps at several choke points, particularly in the gap between Temple Hill and New Rome. Although most of our defenses were fortifying the city's eastern side, we had to have some kind of defenses set up in our choke points.

Samara and Laurel were out in the field as well, testing the ranges of their weapon. They also marked ranges, identifying how far away a certain part of the field was. It wasn't for them so much, but rather for the other archers who didn't have divine talent for the weapon.

Hannah and Scott were busy evacuating parts of the city and relocating them to the other side, hopefully away from any of the fighting. Hannah feared that when, not if, our exterior defenses fall, then we would have to dig in and fight in urban warfare. To help out, Rogan and his faun gangs went about the city, relaying orders and information. Of course, they expected compensation for their work, which we gave readily. Everybody was going to be needed for this fight. I hated to say it, but it was true.

"Storm's coming," Gary Hound said to me as I stood from my tent, as the defenses were being constructed. "Good thing you're locking down the latches and shutters."

"If only I'd have bought some insurance," I joked. Gary laughed with me.

"I never thought I lived long enough to meet a funny Darrow," Gary jested. "Then again, I should be dead."

We stood there watching the work go by until we had another come by.

"Um, Mr. Hound?" Ellen called out, her hand firmly holding the letter that changed her life. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Uh, sure?" Gary said, leaving me to go over to her.

I kept my eye on them, but tried not to make it too obvious. The discussion was going, Gary nodding. He kept nodding until something Ellen said stopped him, aborting all present thoughts. His expression was frozen. When the words weren't being exchanged, Gary ran his hand through his hair, trying to make heads of this news. Eventually, they both went off to walk and continue their discussion.

I had feelings about that, about Ellen finding out she had a dad, one who was still alive. Five years ago, I knew the same feeling. But now, I don't. The world seemed like a scarier place when all of your family was taken from you. First Dad, then Mom and her quest, now Jake. I saw other people with siblings, like Logan and Derek, Jade and her two brothers, Scott and Cindy, and others enjoy the time they had together. Fate had taken away those opportunities from me. But that only furthered my resolved.

We weren't just fighting for survival. We were fighting to maintain the memories of those we love. Or those we had lost.

_Dad. Jake. Howard._

We were fighting for the memories that we were going to make. The ones that we wanted to make.

It had been a hectic week, but Friday finally came. I had been looking forward to tonight for some days now. I wasn't going to lie, I was really nervous. I had never gone out before. I mean, sure, I've been out with friends, but I've never gone out on a date.

With a little help from Ellen and Layla, I was able to get my clothes for the night. A leather jacket over a graphic shit, and a pair of jeans. To finish it off, I had pulled out my favorite pair of boots. Gods, I loved my boots.

I was waiting for the doorbell that I almost ran to it when it finally did ring. I opened the front door and found not just Blake, but several many others with him. I was a little confused. I thought _we_ were going out on a date...

"What's all this?" I asked. Wyatt, Layla, Logan, Lily, and Cam were outside, all smiling innocently, like cats wanting entry. "I thought it was just us."

"Well, we heard it was the Vuclanalia or whatever, and... they just sort of tagged along," Blake tried to explain. "Plus Layla told me it was you first date, so she thought it would be better if it was a group date- "

Blake was cut off by Layla hitting him in the back of the head.

"Smooth, bro," Wyatt said to Blake. The legacy of Dionysus and Poseidon had his arm around Layla. I took that as a sign that they were together. "Anyway, the night's young, and there's still a lot of fun to be had, so let's get going!"

I was about head out when I saw Ellen, dressed like she was also going out.

"Ellen, are you coming with us?" Cam asked. She smiled and ran to catch up with us.

"You bet," she said smiling.

The city was alive in celebration of the Vuclanalia. In the old days, this was the time of the year when the crops were at the highest risk of burning, spoiling the year's harvest. This festival was held each August 23 to appease Vulcan to not accidentally burn the crops. Even in times of war like these, we had to stick to the traditions. It helped us cope with the stress of preparing for battle.

We went over to the Forum, where a lot of the celebrations were being held. People had candles, sparklers, anything to do with the idea of fire. It was a beautiful night. In celebration of the Vulcanalia, a carnival was set up. We immediately headed for the bumper cars.

Blake and I were in the same car, Wyatt and Layla in another, Logan and Lily in another, and Cam and Ellen in another. I drove, while Blake threw popcorn at the drivers. He had a pretty good aim, considering he was a legacy of Apollo.

Everyone decided to turn on us, trying to box Blake and I in, but I was able to get out of that predicament. When they came at us from both sides, I immediately stopped, causing them to collide into each other. You see, Roman bumper cars weren't like your regular bumper cars. They moved at completely different speeds and when you got hit, you could feel it. But it wasn't about randomly hitting other cars. The goal was to strip off the flag of each car. Whoever had the most flags won a prize.

I didn't like losing.

"Man, don't you know how to drive?" Logan shouted to Wyatt, whose car he had hit.

"Bro, you kept on going!" Wyatt shouted back.

Just then, Cam yanked off the flag of Logan's car while Ellen sped past them. He held it up mockingly.

"Dude!" Logan shouted at Cam. "You're so dead!"

"Just playing the game, guys," Cam teased. "Just playing the game!"

Logan turned halfway and got back in the motion. Although he had his flag stolen, he still had enough time to steal it back.

Wyatt was coming straight for us.

"Shoot, he's coming for us," Blake said. He looked around, trying to think of a plan. "We can't let him get behind."

"Don't worry, I've got a plan," I responded, putting some weight on the pedal. We were picking up a lot of speed, right in a clear head-on collision path. Blake was getting a little nervous. "Now you'll know why they call me the Red Hurricane."

We collided head on so hard that all of us almost got thrown from our cars. Luckily, the safety belts were there to prevent that. But in that same motion, I turned the car just a bit, so that when we did hit, we got spun to their side. Blake caught on and reached for the flag on the back of Wyatt and Layla's car.

"Cha-ching!" Blake shouted in triumph. He waved it at Wyatt and Layla. "Just one more to go."

"Don't think you actually stand a chance, Katrina, Blake," Ellen said to us from behind.

Cam and Ellen were picking up speed, Cam already extending his arm to yank our flag off from behind. Blake was throwing popcorn at Ellen.

"Hey!" Ellen shouted, wiping some of the popcorn out of her hair. "You're going to pay!"

"I guess now we'll see her mom's side come out," Blake whispered to me. "Bring it on, Maka!"

"Let's try to keep this civil, guys," Cam pleaded. "Please. Its just a game."

"Says the guy who stole my flag!" Logan shouted, crashing into Cam and Ellen's car. Lily put her face into her hand.

"Now!" Blake said to me. I drove right into the crash, giving Blake enough time to steal Cam's flag, putting us in first place. "And just in time, look!"

The clock had just gone down to zero, making the buzzer sound off.

"We won!" Blake cheered, hugging me.

We went to go get our prize, which turned out to be this huge teddy bear. It was really cute. Since it was too big to carry around, I made Blake do the heavy lifting.

"Oh, sure," he joked, his arms shaking a little.

"I think I'm kind of glad we didn't win," Wyatt said to Layla, who laughed. "That thing looks ridiculously heavy. Hey Blake, good game, bro!"

Wyatt then smacked Blake in the back, making it even more difficult for him to hold up the stuffed bear. After the bumper cars, we tested our luck at a couple of traditional carnival games. Some of them were dart tosses, which I failed in comparison to Lily and Blake.

"What?" Lily asked innocently. "I practice everyday."

We had lots of fun playing games, eating carnival food. But eventually, we got tired. So we headed over to the banks of the Little Tiber. As part of the celebrations of Vulcanalia, bonfires were set up around the city. There were eve some on the banks where we hung out.

When it came to finding something to sit or lay on, Blake and I used the teddy bear. It was big enough to hold both of us. We ended up being very physically close to each other. I could feel him getting really warm. I kind of felt the same way. Blake was a really nice and funny guy. He was also easy on the eyes, which only helped his case. And if I didn't know already, I would have to have thought that he liked me. I wasn't sure if I liked him. Sure, I liked him as a friend, but I wasn't sure where to go from that.

The others had found logs and stumps to lean against. From there on, it was just easy times. We talked about stuff, things we used to do, things we wanted to do when the world got better, _if_ it got better for us.

"I want to tend to the pegasi again," Layla said.

Wyatt and Logan exchanged a look.

"Those guys have the dirtiest mouths I have ever heard," Wyatt joked.

"Well, they're pretty," Layla responded. "And I like them."

"Most of them are dudes," Logan interjected.

"I think the pegasi are cool," Cam commented quietly. "We could use them to coordinate bombing runs if we outfit them right... "

That was when everyone got quiet. The only noise was the rush of the river nearby and the crackle of the bonfires.

"Hey man, its a festival," Wyatt stated. "Lets not think about war or war strategy. How about some... Diet Coke?"

"Where'd you get that, Wyatt?" Ellen asked him. "You didn't steal that did you?"

"What, I'm not some Hermes kid," Wyatt joked. Everybody laughed, everybody except me. I thought of Trent, who was being held captive by the Golden Age Revolution. Not only did they have Trent, but they also had Jake, my own brother. And I didn't even know where! If I had just been there when he fought Harkin... "You guys so easily forget that my granddaddy holds power over all aspects of festivities, including _refreshments_. Who wants some?"

While Wyatt was tossing around soda cans, I went over to the Little Tiber. It was more gentle than it usually was.

_The calm before the storm_.

I decided to walk out onto the river, something I had never really tried to do before. Usually, the river was strong enough to disrupt my ability to walk over water, but now that it was much calmer, I thought I would go ahead and give it try.

I reached out with my right foot. When the very tip of my toe touched the surface of the water, it didn't ripple. Using this as encouragement, I put my weight into my forward foot, and soon I was standing on the Little Tiber.

I felt a sudden sense of accomplishment. Jake had never been able to stand on the Little Tiber and Mom never bothered to show off. She would have been so proud, Jake would have been impressed. If only they were here to see me. In that moment, I felt like the loneliest person in the world.

"That's a pretty cool trick," Blake said to me. He was standing on the shore. He was a legacy of Zeus, the Greek Jupiter. That meant that water was a natural hazard for him. "Pardon me if I don't attempt the same."

"I think I can hold you up too," I said. I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but in the moment those kind of details didn't really matter. I extended out my hand. "Just give me your hand."

Blake was a little hesitant, but eventually he reached out and took hold of my hand. Before I pulled him forward, I focused deeply. I tried to imagine the surface of the water being a solid platform. When I thought I was ready, I urged Blake to step forward.

He clumsily slipped forward, but I was able to catch him in time. Our faces were just inches away from each other and our bodies were pressed into each other. I could feel his hand shaking in mine. He was just as nervous as I was.

As our eyes met, I felt like I was receiving some kind of signal. I felt us mouths draw closer each moment.

That was, until Blake suddenly took a drop into the Little Tiber.

The night ended there. Even though we didn't end up kissing, I had a really great night with him and everyone else. I'm pretty sure even Ellen was glad she came along. She had been through some pretty rough stuff lately, and like the rest of us, needed something positive to cling onto. The Vulcanalia helped me calm down just a bit. It made the war seem just a little further away, not so close to home.

I laid my head to rest for the night.

From this point on, my life would never be the same.

Never.

_Never_.

_I felt the familiarity of water, an element I could very easily rely on. I felt close to home, because I was. I was on the lake in New Rome. A small rowboat drifted by me. I looked at it and saw Scott at the bow, rowing through the night waters. Hannah was at the stern, the back end, playing with her hair._

_"I must say, you are looking very beautiful tonight, miss Praetor," Scott said charmingly. Hannah scoffed playfully at the gesture._

_"Are you implying that I don't look beautiful any other time?" Hannah asked._

_Scott smiled, his arms halting their rowing._

_"You're looking very especially beautiful tonight, Hannah," Scott corrected._

_"Hmph," Hannah responded._

_Before I could get so deeply and emotionally connected with their little romance, I was being pulled to another scene. This was further away from home, but still not too far._

_I still felt the familiarity of a sea vessel, but this one was different. It was skeletal. I quickly summed that I was the Golden Age Revolution's flying ship, the same one that defeated so many heroes. I took this opportunity to search around, maybe find out how they were able to pull it off. But the dream state wasn't letting me. I was being moved through some of the halls, but nothing to get an idea of what the ship was like._

_Eventually, I was in the cell room from before. Trent was still in his cell, but he was looking worse than before. His face and arms were bruised and cut in different places. His shirt was ripped and torn from continued abuse._

_But Trent was still holding in there strong. His eyes glared, albeit swollen pretty badly, at Tamara Ondrea who was just outside of the cell, pacing around back and forth. She was muttering things under her breath, like she was thinking a dozen different things at once, but only had one mouth to word them at a time._

_"... I can't think of anything else to try... " she went on. "... nothing is getting through. What is wrong with him? Need to think of something different, a new approach... "_

_"ADHD overload?" Trent asked._

_"What? no!" Tamara quickly snapped back, just before continuing her pacing and mumbles. "I don't... have a problem."_

_"I get those a lot too," Trent admitted, before sighing. "Whenever my ADHD starts acting up, I just think of something that I'm really good at and something that I like a lot and try to picture myself doing it right there and then... what do you like to do?"_

_"... I used to play the piano," Tamara said after awhile, her eyes never meeting Trent's. "I used to play it a lot with my mom... before she died. Before she was killed. Why did your dad kill my mom?"_

_"There are only two people who know that," Trent said._

_"And you're one of them?" Tamara asked._

_"No, but your mom was," he corrected._

_"Then who was the other?" she asked again._

_"I've been doing a lot of thinking in here," he said. While in a sitting position, he pushed himself further into the back of the cell, further back into the darkness. Tamara went up to the bars to keep the conversation close. "If my dad killed your mom and you wanted to kill him, why didn't you?"_

_"Because... because Harkin got to him first," she said, after a couple of moments of thinking it out. "But he said he doesn't know any- "_

_Trent had sprung from his dark corner of his cell and grabbed a hold of Tamara's neck. Their faces were so close that Trent could see the life slip from Tamara's eyes. In all my years, I have never seen such a dark side to Trent. It was horrifying._

_But Tamara wasn't going down without a fight. She quickly got a punch to Trent's face, followed by a couple more. Trent's grasp slipped and failed after the first couple, but Tamara continued nonetheless. Now it was she who was holding the other._

_"... talk to Harkin... " Trent said in between gasps of breath. His face was completely mauled, his words sounding like they were flooding with blood. "... talk to Harkin."_

_Tamara dropped Trent, letting hit the cold, hard floor with a thud. I was nervous beyond all thought now._

_Just then, two monsters came dragging in Jake. My heart skipped at a beat at the sight of him. He wasn't nearly as beaten as Trent, but he looked like he had suffered some form of exhaustion. Or worse. He wasn't responding at all, but they were dragging from the upper part of his body. That had to have meant that he was still alive right?_

_I was desperate for an answer._

_"What are you doing with him?" Tamara asked the two monsters._

_"We just finished a diagnosis run on him," one of the monsters answered. "He went out pretty fast, but he's still alive. Boss said we could use him since you would be busy with the bigger one."_

_Tamara didn't look too happy that they were putting a 12 year old boy under that kind of abuse. Then again, she had been tortured Trent for gods know how long. My blood was boiling now._

_"Why the tests now?" she asked._

_"They put deactivated their only magical protection," the monster replied. "Boss wanted the weapon ready as soon as possible for the attack."_

_"But he's practically dead," Tamara pointed out. I wasn't sure if she was trying to help Jake or not. I didn't care. I just wanted him safe. "What good would he be?"_

_"Tests says he's got a lot of power," the monster explained. "We hadn't even tapped into it yet."_

_"Fine, whatever," she said, leaving._

_The monsters put Jake into the cell next to Trent, who was still barely awake. His head painfully turned to check up on Jake._

_"... Jake?" Trent whispered, his voice muddled with blood._

_Jake._

_Jake!_

My consciousness rose from the dark depths of sleep, like a swimmer rising through the depths of the water. I awoke with a sudden gasp. My senses had not yet warmed up, but in the background, I could barely make out some kind of noise. For a while, I lay there, letting my ears taking their time to figure out what it was, but when they did, my eyes widened, and I scrambled to my feet.

It was the invasion siren.

Like everyone else in the defense plan, I had been rigorously preparing for this moment. I would spare no moment to think about anything else except the defense of New Rome. Hastily putting on my armor, I struggled to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. It was one thing to be testing and preparing for this, but when the heat was on, it was on.

I rallied over at the trenches that had been set up on the eastern side of the New Rome. At the command tent, I met up with Hannah, Scott, and Blake. Everyone was dressed up for war. Blake had to wear an odd combination of old Legion armor and gladiator garb, since he hadn't carried any of his own armor from. But since he was mostly an archer, it was lighter material, so he ended up using less than most, granting him speed and dexterity over raw protection.

Laurel and Samara came running in, their bows in hand. They had been acting as scouts for the past couple of days, since they were already so skilled in archery and missile tactics. Plus, they were the fastest moving group out of everyone. Their previous success in remaining undetected only added to their credentials as effective scouts and ambushers.

"How many?" Hannah asked the two Huntresses.

"Too many," Laurel said in between breaths. She had been running her heart out to get this information to us. "Tens of thousands easily."

"Ten thousand at the least," Samara added in, also panting. "There were too many for us to ambush at once. The others are falling back to here."

"Are you still able to provide missile support?" Hannah asked.

"Just give me a second," Laurel said. She breathed in deeply. "Okay, I'm good."

"The others will be ready in a couple of minutes," Samara added. "Don't worry, we'll be good. Just tell us when you need us."

"We know how many, but were we able to determine the composition of their army?" Scott asked.

"Lots of snake people," Laurel said. "Scythian dracanae. A couple of mobs of giants. Not like the kind I fought, but bad enough. There we also some flocks of Stymphalian birds on the horizon."

"If they're just sending them out now, then they must be nested further away," Hannah deducted.

"It must be that ship," Blake guessed. "But why wouldn't they use just that? I mean, it wiped out our parents so easily, why can't it destroy the city in one or two go's?"

"They have prisoners on board," I added in. Everyone looked at me. "Trent, my brother. Probably others, too. I'm not sure about them. But I know they have those two. They're using them for _something._ I'm not exactly sure. Whatever it was, it was going to take them awhile to set it up."

Scott's face went for a moment, his eyes darting back and forth all over the place.

"Scott?" Hannah asked, deep concern in her voice. "Scott, what's wrong?"

After a moment, he returned to normal.

"Sorry, just had a glimpse of the future," he said half jokingly. "Yeah, flying ship is coming straight for here at around... tomorrow morning. But we should still prepared for if it does come here sooner."

"Fair enough," Hannah said, writing down some stuff onto the map. She then started drawing arrows on it, and moved around some pieces that represent troop formations. "Here's the plan, since the Caldecott tunnel hasn't been cleared yet, we'll basically cornered in here between the two mountain ranges. That gives us an advantage and a disadvantage."

She then pushed forward a couple of black pawn pieces, the kind you would use in a game of chess. Most of them went toward what was marked as our trench formations. Some of them went toward the gap in between New Rome and Temple Hill.

"In this tiny gap we have a lot of our traps set up," Hannah pointed out. "Should the enemy break past this point, they'll enter through the side of the city and overrun from front and back."

"The Huntresses can do some good there," Samara interjected, pointing at the gap's two sides. "We can split our forces and have them set up on both the slopes of Rome and on Temple Hill."

"We'll make a firing range out of that place," Laurel commented. "They'll be hit by both sides. Its an even smaller choke point than our current situation."

"I like it," I said. "Go and set up that defense. Mr. Alvarez will be there with you."

"Speaking of which, here, take these," Hannah said handing the two Huntresses ear pieces. "Centurion Alvarez had these made over the past couple of days. We can stay in contact that way. Much more efficient than an Iris message."

"Got it," Laurel said into her ear piece. "Lets kick some butt!"

"We'll head out now," Samara said, dismissing themselves. "Artemis guide you."

Back at the battle map, Hannah directed our attention to main flank, where most of the action will be taking place.

"Most of our forces will have to hold the ground here," Hannah said, marking x's on the trench positions. "If we are overrun here, we can only fall back a little before we're fighting in the city. Based on the numbers we've got, its five hundred against ten thousand. Our best bet is to slow them down as much as possible, if anything."

The strategist then moved forward a white knight piece over the area in front of the trench positions. She moved it over there with a sliding motion.

"Recently, we've had an arrival of pegasi," she continued.

"That must have been the ones we set free shortly before our camp was destroyed," Blake interjected. The idea of having New Rome and Camp Jupiter destroyed did not sit well with me. I was going to make sure that what happened to Blake was not going to happen to me. "I think Layla was taking care of them."

"Yes, she'll be leading the bombing squadrons," Hannah replied. "We don't have anyone with any particular mounted combat training, other than the Praetor."

"Layla Lobo is the most skilled on a pegasi," Blake commended. "If anyone should be leading that bomber squadron, its her."

"Right, we'll be having her and a couple of other of your best riders to perform bombing runs to soften up enemy positions. If they have artillery set up, we'll have them knock them out before they do any damage."

We stood over the battle map for awhile, thinking of any else we could do to improve the defense.

"You said we need to slow them down?" Blake asked the Praetor.

"That is correct," Hannah said nodding. "We already have trenches, traps, bombing runs, missile troops... "

"My cousin, Cam, he can manipulate weather," Blake said. I figured descendants of Jupiter had some kind of power like that. "I mean, like bend the weather to his will. Lightning storms, strong winds, rains to make the dirt slippery, he can do it."

"Can he make a tornado?" Hannah asked her cousin Blake. I had never seen Hannah manipulate the weather like that. Cam must have been really powerful, which explains why he's so tired all the time. And modest. "A snowstorm, hail even? We could really use those."

"No snow, I'm afraid," Blake said solemnly. "That's another deity."

"Alright, we'll use him," Hannah said, pulling out a white bishop piece. She placed it just right behind the trench formations, right where we were in the command tent. "We'll have him here so he can get a full view. This our plan. Should our main force get pushed back into the city, we'll have to dig in and keep every inch of good Roman concrete. Anything else?"

I looked at the battle map. We had just about everything in our defense plan set up. I knew I was going to be in the bulk of the fighting, as I had made the Praetor promise. I knew that's where the majority of our casualties were going to be there. So if I was able to do anything to reduce that number, by say fighting there alongside my fellow demigods, then I would do just that.

"I think we've got everything planned out," I said. Hannah nodded in gratitude. "You did a good job, Hannah, guys. Its a good thing you're all on our side."

"Thank you, dictator," Hannah said, giving a salute. "I'll go and ready the troops."

Scott saluted me and left the tent right after Hannah, leaving just Blake and I.

"So its just us... again," Blake said, moving a little closer.

"Yeah... " I said a little nervously.

Instead of words, Blake reached in for a kiss.

But fate had other ideas. A horn had been blown, forcing me to put on my laurel wreath and go and join the others.

"I'm sorry," I said, running out from the command tent.

Coming down from the slope where the command tent was set up, I could see everything. We had a long line set up just in front of the eastern part of the city. Trenches and palisades were set up, an age old method of defense that our ancient predecessors had passed down to us. On top of that, although I couldn't see them from over where I was, there were trap of all kinds. Land mines, flashbang grenade tripwires, pitfalls of different kinds, and etc. The Chaotics had proven that they were very good with things that could definitely destroy the unwary.

I went to the front of the lines, after climbing over and into the trenches behind it. From where I was, it was just solid ground, filled with hundreds of traps of course. I saw the the thin line that seemed to take up the whole horizon grow in density. Ten thousand was a big number. Putting in my ear piece, I checked to see if it was working.

"Katrina Darrow, checking in," I said into my communication radio. It was a small strap that went around the neck. On it was a tiny microphone that I didn't hold on to. It was synced to pick up sound only when I was speaking, which helped preserved its battery. Cain was pretty talented to have made this in the conditions he'd been under.

_Logan Osborne, standing by_, I heard. _Time to bust open some heads._

_Jade Cramer, standing by_, I heard next. _We're with you, Katrina_.

_Wyatt Ward, checkin in,_ I heard a voice next to me. Wyatt wasn't too far from my position. He waved to me from where he was. "Well hi there!"

_Layla Lobo, standing by,_ our bomber squadron leader said. _Pegasi fed, payloads strapped on. Check check. We are standing by, awaiting your next order._

The enemy was advancing closer now. They were still indistinguishable from here, but they would be here in the next minute or two. Innocence was coming to its end.

_Lily Rhiley, standing by,_ one of our missile trooper leaders said. She was in the trench just behind me. _Gwen and Joanna say "hello."_

_Cameron Smith, standing by_, our weather man stated over the radio. _That's a whole lot of guys_.

_Cain Alvarez, standing by_, our tech and demolition expert called in. _¡Viva Roma Nueva!_

They were just outside of our firing range now. Soon, I would be able to distinguish. Soon, the fighting would begin. Soon, the first shot would be made. Our war would initiate.

"I'm not going to lie to you," I said to my fellow compatriots. They all looked at me. My blood was rushing through my veins. "I am afraid, just like you. But the day where we lose our home has already gone and past us. What happened to Camp Half-blood will not happen here, on this day."

_Scott Ward, standing by_, our information and logistics officer called in. _Gods be with us_.

_Daniel Oak, standing by_, the assassin called in. _For the Black Hand Halfway-House!_

_Ellen Maka, standing by,_ my cousin called in. _For our parents!_

_Samara Law, standing by,_ the Huntress called in. _Artemis guide my arrow, swift and true_.

_Laurel Montgomery, bow ready and quiver open,_ the peppy Huntress called in. _Come into my sights and feel the wrath of the my Lady!_

_Brynn Wood, standing by,_ called in. _For Andrew!_

They had just crossed our first range marker. I gave the order to hold fire. They were just spilling over into our range now.

"Not yet," I commanded. "Hold, hold."

_Hannah Copperfield, standing by_, the Praetor called in. _For Rome! For Camp Jupiter!_

_Blake Courtenay, standing by_, called in. _For Camp Half-blood!_

A good portion of the first wave had just crossed into our maximum damage range. Now was the time to launch our attack. Right as they crossed into red zone, many were obliterated by the traps that were laid out. Ours were disoriented, but the rest just kept coming, replacing those who had just been disposed of.

"FIRE!" I shouted. In the next moment, I saw a flock of arrows pass overhead, and right onto the enemy. Dozens fell immediately, but they kept advancing. "FIRE EVERYTHING!"

I heard the grinding of ballistas and their slinging of their bolts. They immediately found their way into enemy lines, thinning them out.

In just twenty seconds they would be in the first set of trenches. I pulled out my sword, _Vicis_, and waved it up to raise the morale.

"Yeah, come on!" Wyatt shouted, holding his trident up. "I'm ready for ya!"

The monsters in the front had just fallen into pitfalls. Most of the others in the back just climbed over the others to get past.

When they had crossed over into my trench, I fought furiously to keep them out. They kept on coming and coming. I severed limbs over and over again. Many had turned to dust. I had been cut a couple of times, but nothing too bad. Just flesh wounds. The battle rage was burning inside of me, keeping me hot on my feet and my swinging arm swift and sharp.

A couple of times I would be forced throw my only sword to kill an enemy that was about to catch someone off guard. Luckily, it was enchanted, so I could instantly call it back. I guess that's why it was called _Vicis_, which was Latin for "return." But the fighting dragged on and on, depriving me of energy and stamina.

Although nearing exhaustion, I felt like I was in my natural state. Here I had a fighting chance, literally, to determine my own destiny and that of others. The battlefield was my area of control. Here I was unmatched by any foot soldier or grunt that entered my trench.

But we were soon overwhelmed in the first couple of hours of fighting. We had to fall back and hold them off at the next set of trenches, otherwise everyone in this trench would soon been buried alive... or dead.

"Fall back!" I ordered as I cut down another monster. Wyatt held up his trident to signal the others in the trench to fall back. "Fall back to the next set of trenches!"

I was just pulling myself out of the trench and running for the next one when I heard someone calling out someone's name.

"Lucas!" Adrian Cramer, Jade's brother, a legacy of Khione and Mars, my cousin, cried out. He was fending off dozens of Scythian dracanae at once. But when his guard was down in one area, they pushed for the attack, piercing him in his side and then everywhere else. He was dead within seconds. I ran over to pull Adrian back to the next trench. "LUCAS, NO!"

"He's gone, we can't save him!" I shouted, trying to pull him back, but he kept pushing forward, wanting to go and wreak havoc and revenge for his just recently slain twin brother. "Fall back, fall back!"

Wyatt came running in, impaling those who got close to Adrian and I. He helped me get Adrian into the next trench. Wyatt and I then hopped over, fighting to hold off our next position.

"Cam, get me some lightning strikes in here!" I shouted into my communication device.

_Right away_, Cam responded over the radio. The skies darkened quickly and the rumble of thunder was soon heard. Lighting in the sky began to dart across the sky. In seconds, a huge bolt struck down right on top of the enemy, electrocuting a whole mob to dust. Cam kept this up until he got tired. _Sorry, need to cool down. Gonna grab a juice box._

We fended off the enemy's advance from out second string of trenches. Lily was running a little low on arrows, but soon resorted to dazing her targets with the swipe of her bow and stabbing them in the face and neck with an arrow in her other hand.

But soon, they stopped coming. There were still at least another nine thousand out there, standing there and watching us struggle to make our last stand.

"I'm gonna go get some more arrows," Lily asked. "I'll be right back."

"What are they doing?" Jordan Lancing, a Greek demigod legacy of Aphrodite and Ares, another cousin of mine, asked.

"I don't know... " I said, squinting at what they were doing. Most of our missile units had depleted their arrows, so we couldn't fire on them on the meantime. Instead, we used this moment to rest. I sent Adrian further back in the line of trenches. I didn't want him to act recklessly and get himself killed. Jade would be destroyed if she lost both of her brothers.

We took this moment to rest. Some, like Logan and Wyatt were still in battle-mode, others were in a state of shock. Others were crying from the carnage that they had just endured. Knowing that there would still be more, I knew that I could not buckle at this point.

I wasn't until I saw the enemy moving out some units out did I realize we needed to ready the troops again.

"Everybody, down!" I shouted, taking cover in the trench.

"What- " Jordan asked. My eyes widened just as a set of enemy arrows embedded themselves into his chest.

Oh gods! They got Jordan! No!

"Take cover!" I shouted, grabbing a shield from a fallen comrade and holding it over my head. Arrow after pierced through, others bounced off. An arrowhead came very close to piercing me through the eyes. I heard several cries from fallen comrades all over. "Enemy archers, take cover!"

_I'm back, sending in some strong winds_, Cam said over the radio. The breeze started picking up. It was blowing away from our direction and right past the enemy. Soon, the arrows that were landing on top of us were being redirected back to their senders. _They're moving their archers back behind their lines. Uh oh, artillery. I can't take those things out on my own._

"Layla, you're up!" I said into my communication device. "Send 'em back to Tartarus!"

_Roger that,_ Layla responded. From my left, I saw them coming diving in. Layla was really fast on the pegasus. And just when she was over the enemy, she released her payload, flattening the enemy artillery. _Releasing payload. Payload received. Have a nice day._

But just then, a swarm of Stymphalian birds came to disrupt the bombing run. Layla and her crew broke from the straight flight path and veered off into different directions, trying to break loose from their pursuers. A couple of riders were dismounted and fell from their pegasi, falling to their deaths.

_Scramble, scramble!_ Layla shouted to bombing squadron. _We're getting torn to pieces up here!_

"Layla!" Wyatt shouted, his eyes fixed on the air battle above. "We've got to do something!"

"Cam, can you knock out the birds?" I asked.

_What, are you crazy?_ Cam responded back. _I would be putting Layla and the others in danger too!_

_We're getting torn up here, Cam!_ Layla shouted over the radio. _Besides, I think these birds are made out of metal_.

_Okay... okay_, Cam said. _I think I can do it. Just, be careful. Gods, don't let me hit you._

The sky darkened just like before. Several lightning strikes were able to knock out some birds. In some cases, the lightning bolt jumped from one bolt to another, creating a net that trapped other birds, and in turn knocked out entire groups at once.

Eventually, Layla's bombing squadron was able to break free from the Stymphalian birds. They flew right overhead and went back to rest up and refuel.

_We'll be back in the air in a bit_, Layla said over the radio. She waved at us when she was right overhead. A lot of us cheered at the successful bombing run. We didn't know how many small victories we were going to get today, because we didn't even know there would be a tomorrow. _Losses were pretty heavy back there. Hopes you guys are having better luck_.

"Thanks, Layla," I said to her. "You guys did a good job. How are things going for you Laurel and Samara, Mr. Alvarez?"

_You'd be surprised at how stupid some of these guys are_, Laurel commented. _They keep coming and we keep shooting them down._

_Its nothing we can't handle_, Samara replied over the radio.

_I like blowing them up... again and again,_ Mr. Alvarez said over the radio. _They make pretty cool colors when they blow up._

_They're testing our defenses with lighter waves_, Hannah commented. _They're not sending in their full force at once because they know we have traps set up._ _They could also be keeping us busy while their ship advances_. _I'll look into it when I get the chance_.

Just then, the enemy was readying their troops for another attack. This time, however, they were sending in the heavier shock troops. There were a couple of giants in the advancing crowd. They went right over the first set of trenches and smacked right into ours.

"Looks like that won't be any time soon!" I said, as I was pressed back into battle.

Over in the distance on my right, I saw Ellen climbing up one of the giants and repeatedly stabbing it in the neck. Daniel Oak, who was nearby, tossed a rope up to her. She caught, wrapped it around the giant's neck and sort slid down the rope. When she reached the ground, she and Daniel and pulled down the monster. It resisted, but others jumped on the rope, pitching in. The giant, gasping for air, fell down, allowing the others to jump on it and kill while it was down.

But that was only one giant and there were still a dozen more. On my far left, I saw one pick up a Greek camper, crushing him in its hand then tossing him into the crowd.

_January, no!_ Blake shouted over the radio. _They got January Noble! Argh!_

_I can't knock them out with lightning,_ Cam said over the radio. _Danger close!_

"We have to fall back again!" I shouted. "Cam, cover us while we fall back! That's an order!"

_Okay!_ Cam responded.

A bolt of lighting struck just where I was about to run to. I rolled out of the way as it drifted to strike the giant that was right behind me. We were running out of defenses as we fell back to our third string of trenches.

It was the afternoon by now. Most of us were becoming tired and weary. I was covered in blood, sweat, and dirt. The fighting had grown in intensity over time. Casualties were piling up so fast we couldn't even recover the bodies because most of them had been lost in the first two lines of trenches.

I was exhausted, but had to keep fighting. They kept coming and coming. We were just about to beat back from our last line of trenches when the worst was to hit. A piercing sound was beginning to develop in the back of my head. It became gradually louder and louder as each moment passed.

"Pull the ballista back into the city!" I ordered. Lily Rhiley and Gwendolyn Peake were in a trench just up in front of me. They were valiantly picking off enemy monsters that tried to get close. Gwen was firing off her automatic assault rifle filled with Imperial gold bullets. She also had a bayonet attached just in case they got too close. "We need to fall back!"

"If we fall back now they'll overrun us!" Wyatt shouted, killing a monster that got in between us. The noise was growing louder, beginning to pulse into my ears now. It was becoming difficult to think straight. In a moment, I was becoming dazed, not reacting to the battle in front of me.

"We'll cover you guys as you fall back!" Gwen shouted, popping off a couple of rounds back to our position. Lily got killed two monsters with one arrow before holding the ground with Gwen. "What are you waiting for? Go already!"

I was moving back slowly, not as fast as I should because I wasn't thinking straight. There was this continuous cry for pain that was ringing in my ears. I looked around and couldn't find its source, which lead me to further distress.

Then came a noise. It sounded like a vacuum, but much louder. This time everyone was hearing it, looking up to the horizon. The setting sun behind us made it hard to see, but it was clear that the ship was just behind a hill. It wasn't able to ascend over it, so it moved slowly forward.

_No, it was supposed to be here tomorrow morning... _Scott said over the radio. _This isn't right_.

_Well it here's now, what do we do?_ Logan asked over the radio. _Wait, what's it doing?_

Suddenly, a bright light started growing and developing from the flying ship. We were all enthralled by this. The sound was still horrifying, but it was so painful that it was numbing, cutting me off from the pain it caused. Wyatt had other ideas.

"What in Hades are doing?" Wyatt shouted, pulling me down and back into a ditch. "Get down!"

Just as we fell into the ditch, a beam of searing hot and blinding hot fire waved past our trench formation. The air was burnt, sucking out all oxygen from it. I choked, desperately needing air. The blast had sent Wyatt and I back several feet, our clothes and hair smoldering and our armor covered in ash and hot coals. Burns covered parts of our exposed skin.

I got up, looking to see if Lily and Gwen were able to get out in time. But there was _nothing_ left. The only thing that was left in the trenches was ash and and dust, all of it was burning.

_Gods of Olympus!_ Scott cried out over the radio. _What was that?!_

_What happened?_ Laurel asked. _We saw some kind of beam go off. Are you guys alright?_

"Lily, Gwen?" I called out. "Lily! Gwen! NO!"

"We lost Lily and Gwen," Wyatt announced. "There's nothing of them left. They're gone. We have to fall back."

_The exterior defenses have been lost_, Hannah declared over the radio. _We're falling back into the city_.

I was still in shock from the beam that I wasn't even sure what we were doing anymore. The enemy was receding for some reason. They were cheering triumphantly at the sight of our retreat. We had lost today. Not just grounds, but some good people. Gods, why?

The enemy didn't send any more waves, but instead spent the night in celebration of their victory. Our night was spent preparing the dead for the Underworld. I had only seen so many wear defeated faces once, and that was when everyone lost their parents. Now we had a second defeat, which was just a little over two weeks ago.

As dictator, supreme leader, I was supposed to light the pyres of our fallen. It was one of the hardest things to do. In a way, it was a final goodbye to those we loved. We were able to recover some of the bodies, but the rest were still out there, defiled and corrupted by the enemy. Fire was a cleansing element if you thought about it. It burns away everything that used to be there.

I needed a fire to burn away the pain. But there was no fire for that.

I lit Lily's shroud, which was marked with two godly attributes - a sun and a blossoming flower, the symbols of Apollo and Persephone. Her father was Matthew Sullivan, a son of Apollo, and her mother was Calla Rhiley, a daughter of Persephone. She was loved by many of her peers, mostly Greek.

And she was dead. She and Blake were really close, like Trent and I were. He wasn't taking it too well, so I tried my best to help him through with it, but it wasn't any good.

Lily Rhiley was dead.

I was allowed some hours of sleep, before we would have to reinforce the urban defenses for the final assault. Although today's events showed otherwise, Scott's glimpse into the future was to be correct. The flying ship fortress that proved to be our end would arrive tomorrow morning to finish us off once and for all. In that realization, I envied my dad. He left this world not knowing this kind of fear, this kind of destruction.

Ellen had gone home before me, so the lights were still on. When I opened the door, I saw signs of struggle, furniture and decorations overturned. Thankfully, I was still armed, since Terminus was given the order to stand down.

"Ellen, are you alright?" I called out, sword ready. "Where are you?"

Just then, she came out. She had a knife to her throat and a very disfigured Thurgood Marshall holding Ellen hostage.

"Ellen, its okay, everything is going to be fine," I said to her, trying to keep her calm. Ellen was wide-eyed breathing very quickly. She had just fought all day to just stay alive and here this guy was holding her life in his hand. No, this wasn't supposed to happen. "Thurgood, I didn't know they let you out?"

"Well, you know, good behavior," he retorted. "And the fact that there's been no one to guard me with the whole glorious revolution and everything. You know, its these kind of atrocities of electing a dictator that we in the revolution fight to prevent."

"Thurgood, I promise that if you put down the knife, I won't bash your face open with my fists," I muttered. I moved over to the side, but he only mirrored my movement, just further back into the darkness of the unlit hallway. "I have been fighting a war all day and I'm just a tad tired. But I am also very, very serious."

"Renounce your title of dictator and I'll- " Thurgood tried to say just as the lights went off. " -eGAH!"

I found a light switch and flipped back on. I was completely unsure of what I saw next.

Ellen was not just standing over Thurgood, who had a knife planted in his back, but over a newcomer.

"... I know how to defeat him... " the newcomer moaned. My eyes narrowed. I know that voice. I went over to him to see who it was and gasped. Ellen did the same. "... I know how to defeat Pravus... "

"Oh my gods," I gasped, clapping my hand over my mouth.

Howard Amos was alive, but our future was still as clear as the bottom of a well.

Tomorrow determined our future. Tonight we rest and mourn.

**I want to tell you a story, about a time when everything seemed lost.**

**This is where the curtain drops. The smoke and mirrors disappear and the lies that make you whole vanish.**

**This is my legacy, Katrina.**

**The legacy of a monster...**


	9. Chapter 8: Is, Was, Will Be

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is told from the third-person POV of Lucius Darrow.

**Chapter VIII: Is, Was, Will Be**

**Life for Lucius Darrow had flown by with extraordinary speed**. At 29, he never imagined himself living so long. As a demigod, his life expectancy was already short, but as an individual, he was predicted to have even less time than that. But the transition was not a pleasant one. Over the years, his hair had become increasingly jet black. His eye color, the most distinct trait of his kind, had changed to an red, blood-like color. It was a subtle transformation, at best, if it were not for the increasing hallucinations he was suffering from time and time again. His headaches also shot up in intensity as time eroded.

Once considered one of the strongest among his peers, Lucius' mind was slipping into perpetual madness. His mind was crumbling from within, but his will to carry on still burned brightly. His children have grown so fast, it so hard for him to believe it at times. His daughter, Katrina, was eight years old, and his son, Jacob, had just turned four.

His wife, Carolina, although somewhat aged, still remained a constant in his life. She was there for him when he needed her, and he did his best to do the same. It worried him thinking of how they would continue without him once his time was over.

The family of four was set on a destination to the city of Columbia, South Carolina, where Lucius and Carolina had spent the early part of their childhood together. Lucius felt a wave of nostalgia as he drove through the wooded streets of his hometown.

They had gone from one coast to the other to visit Lucius' mother, Jane Darrow. Although they have had a rocky relationship as mother and son, Lucius was now trying to correct past errors he had with her. He did this knowing that it might be the only opportunity he had to do so.

When the family arrived, they were greeted by the only inhabitant of the Darrow home in Columbia, South Carolina. When Lucius had finally returned home after running away when he was a kid, his mother had married man named Peter Johnson. They had a daughter named Charlotte. But tragedy followed Lucius wherever he went. One day, when he was visiting home, his step father and half-sister were killed in a fire caused by a chimera. Like everything else, she too had been eroded by time.

The kids loved Lucius' mom. And she loved them. It was her hopes that her boy would grow up one day to become a man, a father to his children, a husband to his wife. For the most part, he did all of those things. He could tell that those deeds alone were enough to make her happy.

Jacob, at four years old, ran over to his father with a big book of old photos. Father and son looked through them, sending Lucius through a wave of nostalgia. He was staring at a picture of his younger self. That Lucius once stood so innocent, ignorant of the world of danger he lived in. His face had not yet received its scars. It was only but a smile that covered his face.

Lucius felt himself becoming entranced by this image. He felt the voices of those around him begin to echo further and further away.

_Dad..._

_Dad..._

_Are you okay?_

_Are you okay?_

When Lucius had become aware of his surroundings, he immediately felt the cold devour him. He stood atop a cliff, a mountain face of some kind. The wind sang the only music of the area. Rock, ice, and snow painted the scenery.

In front of him, a small boy stood in front of him. He looked like his own son, Jacob, but just slightly older, maybe 12 years old? He held a cautious stance.

"I said, _Are you okay?_" the boy asked Lucius. The son of Mars' head began to feel the pain of drilling headache coming on. It was almost becoming hard to stand up, much less keep his eyes open without straining. "You don't look okay."

"I need... I need to rest," Lucius said unsteadily. "Are you out here by yourself? Are your parents around?"

"My Dad's with me," the boy said. He took a moment before continuing, his eyes still cautiously fixed on Lucius. "You seem familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Where is here?" Lucius asked, his headache spiking up. He began to feel himself slip forward. Before long he felt the cold, hard ground beneath him.

Lucius awoke within a cavern, covered in blankets. A man's back was facing him, whose owner was conversing with the boy who he was just speaking to earlier. Lucius' head was spinning now, his pain reaching incredible heights. As much as it pained him, he positioned himself up from where laid.

"He's awake," the boy said to the man. The man turned around and laid his eyes on Lucius. The son of Mars' face went white. The man standing over Lucius _was Lucius_.

This Lucius, however, did not bear the same scars he did. His hair was slightly lighter in color, but not from age. And his eyes were _natural_ in appearance. Lucius struggled to make sense of it, adding to his headache. Surely this was some kind of hallucination, part of his condition. It had to be.

"W-who are you?" Lucius asked his double.

"Name's Darrow," he replied with a rough voice. "What are you doing out here, old man? You trying to get yourself killed?"

"I don't know what I'm doing here," Lucius said, his mind racing for answers. "I... I just sort of came here. Not by my own will."

"A higher power, huh?" Darrow asked. "Then you must be here for your rite of passage."

"Rite of passage?" Lucius asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Climbing this mountain is a Darrow tradition," Darrow explained impatiently. "You climb up here a child, and come back down a man."

"You came up here with your son for his turn?" Lucius asked. "What's his name?"

"Something tells me I'm not here to tell you that," Darrow replied quickly. "Now, get up. We've already lost a day because of you."

Lucius joined Darrow and his son on their climb. It was a miserable ascent, as he was not given any proper climbing attire, and they had not packed any extra clothing. Something told Lucius that they weren't the kind to pack generously.

During their climb, Lucius would take note of the relationship between Darrow and his son, often reflecting back on the one with his own son. Darrow was ruthless in pushing his son to climb the mountain. Although the boy was quite capable, Lucius felt he was being pushed too hard. He looked down every now and then, knowing that any mistake would quickly become fatal. But he couldn't go back. His only hopes of returning home was by going forward, even it had to be with these two.

Whenever Lucius tried making small talk with Darrow, he would respond with, "You're not here to waste my time."

Finally, at the end of their ascent, they came to the summit. Lucius, covered in snow, almost shivered to death where he stood. Darrow tossed him a jacket, which the son of Mars quickly put on.

"Thanks," Lucius said in between shivers. Darrow didn't acknowledge him.

The three of them came to the entrance of a cave. As the wind blew inside, Lucius could tell it went on for a while. Darrow unpacked his things and waited around while the boy was readying himself... for something.

"There's nowhere left for it to go," Darrow said to his son. The boy soon stood with nothing but the clothes on his back and a simple dagger. He seemed nervous, unlike before. Lucius wasn't sure what kind of ritual he would be partaking in next. "Go, and become a man."

"Yes, Dad," the boy said, his voice timid.

As the boy entered, Lucius waited a moment before entering with him. Darrow did not have any qualms with this, so he continued.

The cavern's light was quickly expunged by darkness. The wind from outside danced on the ceiling of the cavern's roof. But soon, there was but not a single sound to be heard, except the shuffling of Lucius' feet. Lucius did not have a fear of the dark, but he was concerned about the boy. He didn't want him to be in here by himself, even if this was what his father, Darrow, had wanted.

"Hey, kid, where are you?" Lucius called out. He kept moving about the cavern until he tripped over a rock and fell into an even darker ditch. "Argh!"

From where he was sprawled out, Lucius could see the boy, who held up his dagger to his defend himself. But from what? The cavern's interior light was provided by a hole in the ceiling. The boy stood his ground in the circle of light in its center. When he heard a growling sound, the son of Mars willed himself to get up, but his leg was trapped in between a narrow point of two boulders.

Soon, a wolf came into the light, baring fangs toward the boy. Lucius tugged and pulled on his trapped leg with added effort as he saw the beast come closer and closer to the outmatched child. As a father himself, Lucius would never put his son in this kind of danger. He was too young.

In a moment's notice, Lucius broke free of his bound leg and lunge at the wolf. It frantically backed up, revealing the truth behind this rite of passage. Keeping his eyes steadily focused on the wolf, Lucius saw the beast was bleeding from a previous injury, limping as it tried to move about. There was no blood on the boy's dagger. And its growls began to sound like those of a frightened animal, and not one defending its territory.

It was trying to defend its own life.

But before Lucius could find reason to this, a pair of hands throttled his neck, clamping around him like steel. The face of Darrow, Lucius' own face hovered over him, as he struggled to breathe.

"You would condemn him to a life of weakness?!" Darrow shouted as he strangled Lucius. The two struggled, but Darrow proved the stronger. "You would condemn your own child to a life of weakness?! Victory or death! That is way, that is the only way! The strong must live and the weak must die!"

"This... isn't the... way," Lucius barely audibly spoke as the life was being choked out of him. "You can't... raise him... like... like this... "

"How should I, huh?" Darrow shouted inquisitively. "I'm making him into a man. Before he runs away from his destiny. Like you did! You were his age when you had that choice, to stand and fight, or run. You chose to be weak!"

Darrow's face morphed into another's. This one belonged to one similar to the boy's, but older. Lucius wasn't sure how, but it was like he was staring into the face of his own son, Jacob, but older.

"You couldn't save your own sister, Charlotte!" the older Jacob screamed. His features were much like his mother's, but Lucius knew that it was his son. "Because of you, I couldn't save my own sister!"

His face morphed again. Lucius wasn't familiar with this one, but felt that it was some kind of resemblance to Darrow's son, the boy.

"And because of him, I couldn't save _my_ sister!" Lucius' strangler echoed. "You. Are. Weak!"

Lucius' vision was beginning to fade, but he could feel his lips quiver.

"What... will you have me... do?" he heard himself barely say.

The face morphed one last time. Lucius almost burned back to life with rage, because he now gazed upon the face of his godly father, Mars, the Roman god of war.

_Drown_.

Lucius felt himself plunged into a watery depth. Hands that once choked him were now gone, only to be replaced by water rushing into his mouth. Lucius gagged underwater, but he could not force it out. There was only more water entering him as he struggled, as he drowned.

He had only drowned once in his life, an occurrence that almost ended his life prematurely.

_I will not succumb to this again._

With nothing but water in his lungs, Lucius frantically raced up, to the sweet embrace of the sun. He felt himself coming so close, but feeling still so far.

When he did finally breach, he expelled the ungodliest amounts of water from his mouth, greedily inhaling life so desperately desired.

Children were playing around in the pool he easily waded in. It wasn't any deeper than six feet. But... it couldn't have been so shallow. A hand was extended to help him out of the water. Looking up, Lucius saw his would-be killer-father.

"Come," Mars said. "We have words to break."

The two walked around for some time. Although the two had a very long and tumultuous history, Lucius was at least willing to give him a moment of explanation. The last time Mars had pleaded for a time for discussion, Lucius had just suffered the lost of his half-sister, Charlotte Johnson. In a rage, he assaulted the god of war. It seemed as warlike and powerful as Mars, he was putting aside his son's past grievances against him.

They stood on a deck overlooking the public swimming pool. A motherly Jane Darrow was by her child's side as she tried to revive him.

"Why did you bring me here?" Lucius asked Mars, looking at the image of his younger self, near death. This, along with others, were some of the traumatic memories that kept on playing in Lucius' head, only increasing over time.

"You needed to know my intent for this day," Mars explained. "Once born, I had foreseen what you will grow to be. Your life meant that only death would follow."

"Doesn't that help a war god?" Lucius asked, trying to make sense of Mars' cryptic speech.

"It would, for a time," the god commented. "But... _others_ were not to be pleased with this. The others in Olympus believed that only children of the eldest gods would grow to be the most powerful. Alas, you came to draw breath. Your... _power_ was granted only by the roll of the die. The Fates never truly reveal their intent."

"They were... afraid of me?" Lucius asked quietly. He knew that other demigods, like Jason Grace and Percy Jackson, were really the only demigods capable of becoming a concern to the Olympians.

"Aye, your power would have been enough to cast down the heavens," Mars continued. "If it were not for your absence of mind and intent."

"I was too unpredictable," Lucius reasoned. "But why this? Why would they let me live?"

"It was I who took the choice to end your life," the god of war stated. Lucius looked back at the pool, and saw a figure of Mars standing in the background, arms crossed. His face wore the look of disapproval. "The task I set out was nigh accomplished. But I came to mind, seeing that life's happiness would be denied to you."

The figure of Mars by the pool walked away.

"I chose not to end your life," Mars sad solemnly, his hands placed on the railing of the deck. "The others were not pleased. They declared that if I were not to end you, then _they_ would."

The sky above them began to darken, thunder rumbling in the distance. Plants nearby began to sharpen with the growing of roots. The water of the pool began to blacken. The distant figure of Mars stopped in his tracks and looked up at the sky, worried.

"I swore an oath to them, to _all_ of them," Mars continued. "You were to become my charge. My seat in Olympus was dependent on you. If you were to stray from course they so desired, your end would come, and my would follow."

"So I was some kind of liability to you?" Lucius asked. The figure of Mars glanced over at the younger Lucius and back to the heavens. Everything then calmed.

"You were to exist outside of the world of your kin," the god of war explained. "But things did not always go as drawn out."

A young Carolina came into view, walking up to a young Lucius. The scene shifted, but those two were always a constant. They slowly grew and matured together, their bond growing in reflected strength.

"She came into your life, and the others could do nothing but watch," Mars said. "Her father was not to be trifled with."

"But she asked me something, just before... _it_ happened," Lucius recalled.

"She was going to bring you back into the world you were born to be in," the god of war confirmed. I loved your mother, but I had my duties. With my order given, I separated you again from your world.

A chimera pounced into the scene, roaring and shooting fire in between Carolina and Lucius. Lucius staggered backwards before turning and running completely.

"I was running for six years," Lucius said, all too familiar with those years he lived in constant fear. "But why? Why all of this?"

"My son, I am not the kind of person you thought I was," Mars said to Lucius, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Know that I have always loved you. A love that has been tested and forged anew through our strife. I shaped you into the man you are now in hopes that you can overcome the weight set by the others. I see that my task is nearing its end. Some time, but not much. When you are no longer of this world, know that your children will come to bear the same weight, the same burden you now carry."

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked frantically. "What will happen to my kids?"

"You are of your kind, you three," Mars spoke cryptically. "Your life will play through your children, and through your children's children. The seed of Darrow will plant the same burden and bloom the story through them."

Lucius was becoming increasingly worried.

"There has to be something I can do," Lucius said nervously. He couldn't allow his children to suffer as he did. The whole point of parenting was to help them learn from his own mistakes and to never experience them firsthand. "I can help them."

"Nay, the die has already been cast," Mars explained. The scene blackened quickly. Soon he felt himself in a vast expanse of emptiness. Bright lights began to illuminate. He felt like he was in space. "For as long as a Darrow shall draw breath, they shall live a life of struggle, to conflict with and confront their daemons, both inward and out. The name shall exist throughout history, a pursuer of conflict and one that exists in conflict. They shall only be awarded peace when they are no longer of this world. This is what the Fates have decided. My hands, and yours, are tied."

"Then... when does it end?" Lucius asked. He saw faces of what were most likely his descendants, Jacob and Katrina both among them. "When does the cycle end?"

"When the last of the Darrow's exist through _her_," Mars said, pointing to what looked like a comet, slow in trajectory, but bright in its burning trail. "She will bring a final peace to your kind."

The comet exploded, unleashing a wave of energy. Lucius saw a tear trickle down Mars' face. He felt himself feeling the same.

"This is the Darrow legacy," Mars stated, as the wave of energy approached them. "Live graciously, die knowing you are not alone."

When the wave of energy hit Lucius, he opened his eyes, realizing he was sitting next to Jacob, looking at the picture of his younger self. Where a frown once was, was now a grin. A man stood in the background of the picture, also grinning.

"Are you okay, Dad?" Jacob asked Lucius. He quickly threw his arm around his son and pulled him in tight.

"Everything is alright," Lucius said to his son.

_Everything is going to be alright._

**This shouldn't have worked... for so many reasons.**

**But for a little while, for this excellent moment in time, it did work, didn't it? And I felt human, alive.**

**But you were right, a secret breaks things down.. it's like bile, dark, erosive.**

**It's a long story and most of it's unbelievable... but it's time you knew the truth, now that I have nothing left to lose.**

**When I'm gone I at least want you to know what I was, I want you to know who you are to me... nothing else matters.**

**Not anymore.**

**End log 209.**


	10. Chapter 9: In Our Darkest Hour

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is told from the first-person POV of Katrina Darrow. This is the *last* Katrina chapter.

**Chapter IX: In Our Darkest Hour**

**Never before had I experienced such a wave of emotions as I had in these last 24 hours.** My entire world was being put to test as Evan Pravus was leading the Golden Age Revolution. His army easily dwarfed our own. In just a couple of hours, we had lost all exterior defenses of the city. Our forces were now fighting an urban war, where we strove to hold off the enemy street by street, building by building. The danger was real.

But in this darkest hour, when it seemed we were going to lose more than just a few of closest loved ones, one came back from the brink of death. I had believed when Scott presented Howard's ring on his severed finger, I knew only death could separate him from his family heirloom.

Ellen and I had taken Howard to the Del Sol clinic in the middle of the night. The day's casualties were being piled up in hallways, some living, others dying. It felt like going through the battlefield all over again, weaving through crowds and crowds of injured people.

"This is a priority," I said to one of the nurses. She was busy checking off on three of four patients at a time.

"Everyone is a priority!" the nurse shrieked, tending to a patient. It was an older camper, one who had suffered from some burns. The damage looked terrible. I could only imagine what he must have been feeling. "He'll have to wait out in the hallway with the others."

"This is the highest priority right now," I said to the nurse.

"Under whose authority?" the nurse asked me.

"Mine," I said. "The dictator of this city. This is Howard Amos, and he needs a room. Now!"

"H-Howard Amos?" the nurse uttered. She quickly snapped out of her trance and moved about quickly, clearing a room for us. "Quickly, in here."

We got him situated in the bed as quickly and carefully as we could. Howard looked like he had sustained several injuries to his body. I also looked grimly at the bulb of bloodied bandages he had wrapped around his left ring finger. The nurse and Ellen did what they could to treat most of the injuries. When they did all they could, the nurse went back to tending to the other patients. I had Ellen go get Hannah and Scott.

The two arrived, almost running once they saw who I was sitting beside.

"By the gods," Hannah almost cursed. "How?"

"I-I know how," Scott said after a moment of silence. Hannah and I looked at him. Scott knew?

"What do you mean?" Hannah asked Scott.

Scott sighed, pacing around a bit.

"When we were in the detachment and met up with the Greeks, we were ambushed by Harkin and his forces," Scott recalled. I remembered that from my dream. I was _almost_ there. Jake was taken during that incident. "Howard needed to figure out what they were up to. So, after we had withdrawn from the ambush, in the chaos and confusion, he left me with this... "

Scott pulled out Howard's ring from his pocket and placed it in the prodigal praetor's hand.

"He needed to fake his death to successfully get deep behind enemy lines," Scott continued. He sighed again. "He always did sacrifice too much. He didn't even hesitate to cut it off once he made up his mind."

"He said he knew how he was able to defeat Evan Pravus," I stated. "Before he went out."

"Then it seems our key to winning this battle lies with Howard," Hannah said. "While he lies before us. I'm glad he's back, alive, but... What good is he now? He can't help us like this."

"So, we're just gonna fight them without listening to what Howard had to say?" I protested. Howard was my best friend, he was more than that too. He was also Scott's best friend. Surely, he wasn't going to be so easily discarded.

"We have to focus our efforts on halting the enemy's advance within the city," Hannah said solemnly. "They're already on the other side of town."

"Then you command the defense," I told her. "Because I'm staying here, with him."

"As you wish, _dictator_," Hannah said, almost glaring at me. "Gods, help us."

Hannah and Scott left, going back to help defend the city, while I stayed behind. I sat in the chair beside his bed, waiting for something. I didn't even realize I fell asleep watching him.

When I woke up, I saw an empty bed. His blanket was now laid over me. Realizing he was gone, I quickly got up and looked around. No, Howard couldn't just get away from like that. Not again.

I searched up and down the clinic, asking each nurse I saw if they had seen him. They all responded the same, saying that they hadn't seen him. I even asked the nurse who treated Howard. She wasn't even aware that he was gone. Deciding I would need more help, I ran back to the Senate.

It was still early in the morning, before the sun was up when I ran outside. The sounds battle had never been so closer. Explosions in the distance, screaming and the clash of metal against metal even closer. In any case, I was armed, now that I had deactivated Terminus.

At the Senate, I saw a couple of people suiting up for some kind of deployment. Among them were Daniel Oak, Logan Osborne, Layla Lobo, Cain Alvarez, and... Howard?

"You're late," Howard said, tossing me some gear. It was heavy, but I was able to catch it. I was speechless. I had believed I was never going to hear him say that again, but when he did, I dropped the gear to the floor. Running over to him, I hugged him. It was in front of everybody, but I didn't care. He was alive, and that made things so much better right now. But there was also some other things I needed to get off my chest.

I pulled back from him, then punched him where he stood. Everyone in the room was between being completely awed into silence and laughing their heads off. Cam walked into the room, fully geared up for whatever operation was about to be conducted.

"Um, what did I miss?" Cam asked.

"That's for faking your death!" I screamed. A fist print was brightened pink on his face. "If you ever pull a stunt like that, I will make sure its not a trick, do you understand me?"

"I see you've taken to your nominated office very comfortably," Howard muttered, rubbing his cheek. I was breathing heavily now. Howard stepped forward and resumed our hug. "And your swing has gotten better. That's good, we'll need it. I know, I know. I miss you, too."

"Ooh, Howard!" I said furiously. "Fine, what are we doing here?"

"I was just about to explain," Howard said, drawing out shapes on a paper on one of the tables. It was awhile before I could recognize what it was, but when I did, it was unmistakable.

"We're going to be the ones who win this war," Logan boasted, gearing up. The others did the same, so I decided to follow suit.

Howard came forward, nine fingers and all, with his blueprints that he had drawn from memory.

"Our greatest threat is coming from a weapon on their flying ship," Howard explained, pointing to its shape. The sound of the fighting was coming closer. "If we can get a small strike team, we can disable it, or possibly use it against them."

"That would mean we would have to know how to use it," Cain commented. Layla and Logan nodded. Cam looked unsure. "Which we don't."

"I do," Howard said, marking down some more details. "The people they abducted have been methodically tested and used for their weapon on the ship."

I remembered that they were testing Jake for something.

"How does it work?" I asked. Howard's face went grim as his eyes slid over to meet mine.

"Its some kind of siphon that draws off the power of an individual," Howard explained. My eyes widened. "The stronger the person, the stronger the beam."

"That means that they were using Jake's power to... oh gods," I uttered, realizing how much danger Jake was in. As powerful as was, he was finite. I was afraid they would toss him aside like a used up battery. "That must also be why Pravus went after Javier. He's the grandchild of two Big Three's."

"Trent wasn't enough juice to fire off a shot," Cam noted. "But how were they able to siphon power before Jake?"

"They used one of their own," Howard answered. His face went ever more grim. "Harkin had been volunteering to siphon his power until they had Jake."

"That... _monstro_," Layla muttered hatefully. Cain glanced over at her.

"Are you sure we don't know each other?" he asked her. Logan stepped in between the two. "Fine, fine."

Daniel put his face in his palm.

"Using Cameron Smith's weather manipulation, a small strike team can infiltrate the flying fortress and take out the weapon," Howard prompted. "Freeing the prisoners or taking out Pravus and his entourage is secondary. It won't be his army that will win the battle, it will be his ship if we don't take it out."

"Agreed," Daniel said, stepping forward. "I'll accompany you, dictator, should you wish to take up this desperate gamble."

"I'll join," I said, without even hesitating. "Cain, I'll need your technical expertise."

"I thought you would never ask," Cain said, moving closer to Layla. "You'll be joining us too, right? You can be right next to a big war hero."

"Dude, you're so weird," Logan chided. "I want to take on this Harkin guy. You know what they say, the bigger they are... "

"I guess this won't be possible if I don't help," Cam said, frowning a little bit. "I have no choice but to help. But just a heads up, I'm a little drained from yesterday. I can't guarantee Zeus' finest."

"I'll prep the steeds," Layla said, dismissing herself.

"Hey, princess, catch!" Cain shouted, tossing her a communication piece. "I have a private channel, _just in case_."

"Come on, lets get ready," Howard said, getting ready himself. I stopped him as soon as I saw him limping. I put my hand against his stomach, feeling moist bandages underneath his shirt. "What?"

"You're staying behind," I whispered to him. He was showing signs of protest, but I knew he couldn't accompany us any further. I grabbed his, running my fingers around his missing finger. "You've done enough already. Stay here, and guide us from the war room."

"I _have_ to do this," Howard said in response. "I've already done so much."

"I'm ordering you to go there," I said. I knew he wasn't going to listen to me, so I put my hand on his face and pulled him in for a kiss.

It was the first time I had ever kissed a boy. I was glad it was Howard I was kissing, but I had a ship to take down.

"But... " he tried to say.

"Please, Howard," I said quietly. He sighed in defeat, wrapping his arms around me. We held each other for what seemed a moment.

"Just... please, be careful, okay?" he requested of me.

"Aren't I always?" I grinned.

"Yeah, I guess you are," he said. I swore I saw a smile break through that stone face of his. He was about to walk off when he suddenly stopped and looked back at me. "Hey, Katrina."

"Yeah?" I said.

"Thanks," Howard spoke. "I don't think we would be here without you."

I smiled.

I spent the next couple of minutes gearing up for what would be our most desperate struggle yet. When I was done, I met up with the others, who were readying their pegasi. I counted them and saw that they were only enough for everyone... except myself.

"What gives?" I complained. "Where's my mount?"

"Uh, yeah," Layla said a little nervously. "We were kind of short on pegasi, so I had some help looking for more. And, uh, Ellen found _this_ in your garage."

Layla directed my attention to the horse that looked like it had been dragged straight out of Tartarus itself. It was a black steed, as dark as night. But that wasn't the best part. Instead of regular hair for a mane, flames trickled instead. It snorted out a small column of fire from one of its nostril.

_I hate dust,_ the monster horse said._ I hate allergies_. _I hate everything._

"I'm so jealous," Cain said in awe. "I think I want one."

"I think we can agree on that," Logan joined in.

_Huh?_ the horse said, looking at us. _Great, children. I hate kids_.

"We're not _that_ bad, are we?" Logan asked aloud. The others, except me, gave him a weird look. "What?"

_Okay, who's in charge here?_ the horse asked, looking around. It walked around a bit, pushing Cain and Logan aside. It eventually came up to me. _You look familiar... I'm looking for some punk about more or less your height, dark hair, like yours, but his eyes... his name is Lucius, I think. Or was it Idiot? I can't remember. What day is it?_

"August 25th," I said. It was early in the morning, but I was still able to tell what day it was.

_Oh, August 25th... _the horse spoke. _Er, what year is it?_

"2030," I said. I had the feeling he wasn't expecting that.

_2030?! _the horse neighed. _By Mars' spear, I was only asleep for a couple days! Where is Lucius, where is he?! That kid is gonna need my help before he does something stupid! Come on, speak up!_

"Lucius is my dad," I said. I had to bite back the tears for what I was going to say next. "_Was_ my dad. He died five years ago."

_Oh, er, my condolences on your loss,_ the horse said solemnly, bowing its head. _I smell war. Is that what's going on? I can help. My name is War. I'm good at what I'm called. You look important, let me help you._

"I need a good steed," I said. "Can you help me look for one?"

_I can be your steed!_ War said cheerfully. _Lets charge straight for the enemy! I'll kill them all underfoot. Ha!_

"Hold up, War," I protested. "I need to get to a flying fortress. You're just a horse."

"Tell me she did not just say that," Logan spoke.

_Just a horse?!_ War protested. _I used to pull the boss' war chariot. I can take you anywhere - land, air, sea - you name it. Just as long as I get to kill some stuff!_

"Okay, okay, you've made your point," I finally gave up. "Can I hop on?"

_Say no more and climb aboard!_ War prompted. I threw on a saddle over his back. Thankfully nothing burned.

When I was ready, I climbed up one stirrup and slipped my foot in the other. The others were commanding their pegasi to take off into the air by galloping in large circles. I followed, commanding War to gallop in large circles before he was running over thin air.

Looking down, I saw a mother and her two twin children. She held them close as the wind we generated blew against them. It was Basilia North and my two cousins, Romulus and Remus. Their worried faces brought me to truth. In my ascent, I realized I wasn't just fighting for the city, for demigods, I was fighting for the future. I was fighting for them. They were only four years old, and already they had lost their father to a war they were never part of.

I caught up with the others who were ascending above the clouds in the sky, generated by Cam. We needed to move about undetected, so Cam was accompanying us. His abilities proved invaluable. The world below the clouds was dark and had not yet come to morning with a rising sun. I was cold with the wind blowing at us, against us, around us, through us. But when we broke through the clouds, I saw something no one on the ground would.

It was like a painting, with the clouds like a infinite sea of cotton. The sun off in the distance was just peeking over in the corner in the East. It bleached away the darkness and its stars rapidly. I was so caught up in this, that I hadn't realized how far I was lagging behind.

_Katrina, you coming?_ Logan asked over the radio.

"Yeah, on my way," I said into my communication piece.

War took us up in altitude, where the others were. Their pegasi were galloping in circular formations with their wings flapping.

"How come you guys gallop when you fly?" I asked. War whinnied angrily.

_Why do you move your arms when you walk?_ he asked in response.

"Fair enough," I said.

Once we were back together, we changed our formation into a straight line. We were flying forward for some distance before Howard began briefing us over the radio.

_In two minutes, you'll be over the ship,_ Howard spoke. _Make your descent in 60 seconds_.

"Roger that," Layla responded, signaling to the rest of us. Out of all of us, she was the most skilled in pegasi riding. With her in front, she could give all the appropriate maneuvers and commands. I was glad she was with us. "Increase altitude to 15,000."

I looked down as we went up. The sounds of battle were almost a world away. With a long drop like this, I prayed to Poseidon and Mars to protect me, and to Jupiter to excuse my presence in his domain.

"30 seconds!" Layla shouted. She put on her flying goggles. The rest of us followed, mostly because she knew what she was doing. I had never rode a flying horse like this before, so I was especially nervous. "Weapons ready! Parachutes ready! 20 seconds!"

I had forgotten that we were wearing parachutes. It was something that we learned from yesterday - just because you were flying, didn't necessarily mean you always would. We lost enough as it was to simply falling to their deaths. We hoped we could change that factor today.

"10 seconds!" Layla said. I was breathing really fast now. It was like the climb before the big drop on a roller coaster. Only this didn't have any safety belts or harnesses. "Cam, get me a line of fog 200 yards in front of us, and 500 yards below us... now! Ready, DIVE! DIVE!"

I could never truly describe the experience of diving at 15,000 feet in the air at more than 120 miles per hour. I was speechless, holding my breath as held onto the reins of War for dear life. My legs almost flew off, but I dug them into the stirrups, in fear of death.

We plunged through the cloud line and met the cold embrace of the near-morning. Trails of the sun's light followed us in our wake as we broke through a secondary layer of fog that Cam had provided.

That was when we were met by fierce opposition. Alarms were being raised, troops were scrambling and Stymphalian birds were screeching and running for a takeoff. In a couple of moments, they were off, advancing to meet us head-on.

Metallic bird after metallic bird flung itself at us as we cut them to bits. It was like jousting with race cars and buzz saws. I had to carefully keep an eye on rapidly approaching enemy birds that flew at us like kamikaze fighters. War shot out a column of fire that caused a couple of oncoming birds to catch fire and veer off in flames.

A couple of Scythian dracanae were mobilizing anti-air cannons, but Layla dove in and impale the operators while still keeping her forward momentum.

_We need to dismount, now!_ Layla commanded us over the radio. _But the LZ is too hot!_

_I got it!_ Logan shouted over the radio. I saw him in the distance. He had his pegasi come to a halting gallop atop the deck of the flying skeleton-ship. Dismounting, he whipped his silver gauntlet and changed it into a katana, slicing and slashing foes to dust. In seconds, he was clearing a space large enough for two more to land.

Daniel fired a special arrow from his bow that held a wire. Tying it to his saddle, he dismounted and slid his way down, firing a couple of more arrows into enemies, some of them approaching on Logan's rear.

Cam landed and dismounted. A large number of enemies were quickly advancing on his position, so he unleashed a great wind that blew them over the side of the deck and falling to their demise.

Cain came to rolling tumble onto the deck. He quickly drew out a shotgun and began firing into crowds of monsters. His shots were loaded with a strange mixture of Imperial Gold and Celestial Bronze. Either way, it proved effective as his targets fell to dust.

Unfortunately for War and I, we did not fare so well. One of the birds managed to pierce through War, critically damaging his ability. In a panic, I pulled up.

_Looks like this is the end, kid_, War moaned. _Its been a good fight._ _But I haven't had my moment yet, so get._

War bucked me off in our ascent, flinging me off and down to my fall. I tumbled and spun furiously through air. I saw War increase his fire output as began to fall, firing a trail of fire in his wake. He exploded when colliding into a formation of onboard giants and shock troops.

But I was still falling. In my struggle, I thought I was going to die. It was only then did Layla come to rescue, her arm extended. I grabbed on and she dropped me at favorable height onto the deck. I willed _Vicis_ to return to my hand before I engaged into combat with the others.

In minutes, the top deck had been cleared of enemies. We met up at a door leading to the lower decks, while Daniel contacted Howard.

"Okay, top deck is cleared, what's next?" Daniel asked, his finger pressing the device in his ear.

_They're kicking the ship into top-gear, according to our scouts' reports_, Howard said over the radio. _Cain, you'll need to kill the engines to stop the ship completely. Depending on how long that takes you, they'll still be in range to get a couple of good shots off. The power siphon and its corresponding Helios cannon are our priorities._

"Kill the engines?" Cain asked. "How come we hadn't started this war sooner? _Sí,_ I'm on it."

"Where's the Helios cannon and its power siphon?" Daniel asked.

Logan and I exchanged glances. He must have felt out the ship as I did when we set foot on it.

_The power siphon is in the mall,_ Howard said. _You'll need to go down a couple of decks before you reach it._

"So that's what that big space was for," Logan noted. I felt it out too. Even though the ship's skeletal frame made everything harder to feel, I could still sense that there was an amassing of great energy within a large space of the ship - the Promenade.

_Its heavily guarded, so a diversion is needed_, Howard stated. _Killing the engines will do just that. Over and out._

"The rest of us will have to have take out the power siphon," Daniel summarized. "Come on, let's go."

We went deeper into the flying ship, carefully evading patrols. They were hundreds, if not thousands, on board the ship. It must have been why he wanted to move his ship up with the advance, so he could unload what looked like a conquering force. Taking the ship out would surely win the day, but I had rescue my brother and Trent. If Pravus got in between and them, then he would have to go down as well.

We kept on going until Layla came to a realization.

"Weird," she whispered.

"What?" Logan asked.

"I thought monsters could smell demigods and half-bloods easily," Layla spoke.

I was having suspicions, until suddenly, someone spoke over the radio.

_Uh, guys, I'm in a bit of trouble,_ Cain said over the radio. _There's too many in front of the engine room. I can't take them all out. I can distract a couple of them with some smaller explosives, but the entire will probably be put on alert if they aren't already._

"We need to take out the engines if we're going to try to get to the power siphon," Cam stated. "But Cain will be putting himself, and the rest of us in a lot of danger if he does this."

"Do it," I commanded, after a moment of thinking it out. We had to do this. It was the only way.

_Okay, I'll do it,_ Cain said before the sounds of him moving around were made over the radio. _Hey, ugly! Come and get me!_

There were more sounds of him running and then...

BOOM!

The entire ship shook a little.

"I thought you said you were going to use a little bit of explosives!" I shouted into my communication device.

_That was a little bit!_ Cain responded. Suddenly, red light alarms flared and footsteps began to turn into sprints. There were the sounds of a gun being fired, cocked, then fired again multiple times over. _Okay, I'm in. I'll need a bit of time to set all of it up, so if you can divert some of their attention for me... gracias_.

An electric sound rang through the ship, followed by what sounded by some form of a dying mp3 player.

_Well now, it seems our friends have decided to board our ship_, a familiar voice spoke over the ship's speakers. _Seek them out and bring them to me. Alive, if possible. If not, then bon appetit._

"Come on, we don't have a lot of time," I said to the others. We ran through the hallways, most of whom had gaps of interior missing. Chiron had told us the other day that the ship was once the command vessel from a previous that some of our parents fought in. It was destroyed once via bomb, but not it was back, worse than ever before.

_Brace yourselves!_ Howard suddenly shouted over the radio. None of us saw it coming, but the ship suddenly shook violently, rocking most of us off of our feet. I heard a fading scream and saw Daniel being thrown into a gap of the ship. I tried to dive after him, but I wasn't quick enough. I saw him through the gap, falling and falling. He struggled to pull of his parachute, which was still strapped on. Thank the gods.

_Crap, I can't get my chute open!_ the panicked and descending Daniel shrieked over the radio. He kept on falling and falling. I didn't know what to do, we didn't know what to do. We were already in so deep, that Layla wasn't able to go riding to save him. _Save Trent..._

Those were his last words before his communication device cut off.

"What was that?" I shouted furiously into my communication device.

_Hannah and Blake are firing long-range ballistae at the ship_, Howard stated. _They didn't know you were onboard. I've already told them to stop firing. How bad was it?_

"We lost Daniel Oak," I said solemnly. This was the second person I had seen or known of going down due to friendly fire.

_I'm sorry for your loss, but the operation you're conducting was not made aware to me_, Hannah said over the radio. _We will reposition our bombardments away from the ship until told otherwise. Again, we're sorry_.

We kept on advancing deeper into the ship until we came into an office room. It was empty, but looked like it had been recently used. We went over to the nearby windows and saw the Promenade. It looked like a massive valley, with holes in various places from the explosion. Most of the holes were sealed up, however, blocking the flow of wind from the outside.

Up against a wall on the ground floor of the mall, I saw it. It was like a set of circular rings, layered over one another. In its center was an open and unused harness. Good, I thought. At least they hadn't used Jake again yet. We still had time. I also saw a familiar antagonist - Harkin. He stood to almost rival some of the giants near the power siphon. It was hard to imagine how someone could grow so big like him. His size and strength, as well as his reputation, made him a formidable opponent.

Suddenly, I felt a blade at my throat. I gasped, but held my self not to move, in fear of getting my throat slit.

"Well now, look what we have here, brother," Devin said to his twin.

"Centurion Pravus did mention that some of them would be trying to go for the power siphon," Dwayne noted. "This office makes a great vantage point. Too bad you won't be able to use it."

"Come on, lets show them our toy," Devin said to his brother.

An escort of monsters came to us and prodded us to follow Devin and Dwayne Coll. It wasn't a long trip to the power siphon from the office, but I felt like I had made a huge mistake telling Cain to fire off some premature explosives.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked the two ex-Centurions.

"People don't ask that question as much as they used to," Devin said. "Its always '_You'll never get away with this!_' "

"Your Legion dishonored our father," Dwayne explained. I had heard very little of Mark Coll of the Fourth Cohort, but when I did, it was usually in a negative connotation. "Lashing out at his fellow Centurion, pah. Everyone says he was goaded into striking at his man, but those are just lies."

"Now, its our _duty_, to restore the order of the House of Coll," Devin said.

I was going to ask more questions, but it didn't seem like the Colls were going to play along. We finally arrived to the mall's floor, where the siphon was. Harkin, standing on an observation deck right above us, was overlooking some reports and some monitors. For such a big guy, seeing him like this made him look _almost_ sophisticated. When we got within his field of detection, he slightly turned his eyes on us. His expression was that of stone.

"Why did you bring them here?" Harkin asked the Coll brothers. "Of all the places... Toss them off the ship."

"I got a better idea... I challenge you, Harkin!" Logan shouted abruptly. He pulled out his gauntlet, which quickly morphed into a silver samurai sword. "Face me in single combat! Just you and me! Or are you scared?"

Our escort of monsters had pulled out their weapons, ready to strike at us, until suddenly, Harkin raised his hand. They lowered their weapons and backed up away from us. Harkin then turned around and leapt from the observation deck, his feet crashing onto the same floor as us. We were all startled by the amount of force he carried.

"What are you doing?" I asked Logan. He grinned where he stood, facing Harkin.

"I told you I wanted him," Logan said to me. "Besides, its not time yet."

My eyes widened, as I backed up. Logan was trying to buy Cain time in order to blow the engines and stop the ship's flight path. But against this kind of foe was not smart, not smart at all. I probably wouldn't even take on Harkin by myself.

Harkin took off his sleeveless t-shirt, revealing a body riddled with scars. His camouflage pants and combat boots flexed and moved as he did. He was a specimen constantly tested by opposition. Unlike Logan, the only opponent he hasn't been able to defeat, is the one he hasn't faced yet.

The almost-giant demigod cracked his knuckles and neck. Logan gave in a good couple of practice swings to get his arms warmed up. He nodded when he was ready, his hands held out in front of him. The fact that he was comfortable enough to take on Logan without a weapon only made me more nervous for him.

The two circled each other, forcing the rest of us bystanders to back up in such fashion. Logan went in for the first attack, swinging at Harkin's legs. His opponent stepped back, just outside of the blade's reach, and charged back in, throwing a swing from his fist. Logan rolled out of the way, the fist slamming into the metal floor just behind him. From Harkin's side, Logan cut at him at his leg, forcing him to let out a small cry of pain.

The sudden success was met with sudden failure, as Harkin backhanded Logan, knocking him off of his feet, and sending him some distance back. We cleared the space, in fear that we would get hit. Harkin slowly approached Logan, checking on his leg on the way. Logan quickly got up, shaking a little.

Logan struck overhead, but Harkin caught it with his metal gauntlets, parrying the attack. The cancelled movement left Logan defenseless, allowing enough time for Harkin's hand to swiftly come and grab ahold of his neck. Logan was lifted off of his feet.

"If this is all you have to offer, then your race's existence is forfeit," Harkin taunted Logan, who was being choked from his grasp.

"Likewise, buddy," Logan said, kicking Harkin in the groin. He was quickly dropped to the floor, to which he moved out of harm's way and readied himself for more punishment.

When Harkin recovered, he turned was met with attack after attack. Logan kept advancing in a forward motion, forcing Harkin back and back after attack. The idea was to constantly be on the attack so that when your opponent does lose his guard, you can quickly go for the deathblow.

Years of training had prepared Logan for this kind of flourish, his endurance being put into overdrive as he swung and swung at Harkin. His opponent parried attacks with his gauntlets the best he could, until eventually, his guard was completely open. Logan saw this opportunity and stabbed his weapon into him.

My heart froze as I saw what laid before me.

Both fighters were still standing.

Logan was outstretched from his _failed_ stabbing attack, his blade stopped in motion by Harkin's now bleeding hand. The tip of the blade was just inches away from finding its mark into Harkin's stomach. Both of them were shaking from the result. A look of strain spread over Harkin's face, but Logan's was worse. In a shaking effort, Harkin moved aside the blade with his hand still wrapped around it.

But Logan couldn't get away this time. Grabbing hold of Logan with his free hand, Harkin lifted him up once again. Logan flailed repetitively, failing to break free.

"Come on, you want a piece of me?!" Logan barked defiantly.

Harkin was silent for a moment, Logan still struggling. He quickly revealed a grin before letting it vanish.

"No," Harkin replied calmly. "I WANT TWO!"

I can never fully describe the horror that laid before my eyes. While Logan screamed beyond the point of agony and terror, Harkin tore him in half. I looked away as soon as my mind was able to comprehend what was to occur. Several cries of terror rang out from my friends. Some of the monsters nearby were somewhat set off by it.

When I heard Harkin toss aside what was left of Logan, I looked at him and saw his inhuman appearance before me. His hands bloodied, as well as the blood of Logan all over, he stood there, satisfied in his victory.

"I am Harkin!" he shouted triumphantly. "Demi-_titan_, son of Atlas! I will tear Olympus in two!"

But just as Harkin was reveling in celebration, the entire ship shook. Everyone was struggling to stay on their feet, including Harkin.

_Engines are destroyed!_ Cain shouted over the radio, Sounds of shotgun fire soon followed.

_Good, now take out the power siphon!_ Howard prompted. _The ship is still within firing range of the city._

Layla and Cam also heard this through their earpieces, acting accordingly. Layla knocked over the Colls, who were momentarily distracted by Cain's handiwork. Cam let loose his electric whips, scraping a permanent streak mark against Harkin's face. With his other whip, he got a hold of Logan's silver gauntlet and tossed it to Layla.

"That wasn't very kind of you, cousin," Devin Coll said to Layla, who was back up on his feet.

"Didn't your parents teach you better?" Dwayne asked, adding salt to the wound. Layla lunged in for an attack, which Dwayne parried and pushed away.

I worked my way to take out the group of monsters that were still with us, while Cam kept Harkin busy and Layla fought the Coll brothers. Most of them were still distracted by the two fights, so I was able to take out most of them without much opposition.

Cam used his whips to swing from railing to railing, keeping some distance from Harkin, while he struggled to keep up. Harkin then reverted to throwing things at Cam, anything he could find. Cam slashed the projectiles in half as he swung to and fro.

Layla was starting to have some trouble taking on to opponents at the same time. I couldn't see it at first, but they were fighting while constantly shadow-traveling from location to location. In one second, they were on a floor above me, in the next, just right beside me. It wasn't until Layla fell into a trap did the odds finally play out. While Dwayne pressed Layla, Devin came up right beside her and knocked her down.

The legacy of Hades and Aphrodite, now on her back on the floor, tried to back as fast as she could, but the Coll brothers kept on coming toward her. She came up to a wall, too exhausted to shadow-travel again, and shrieked in panic.

The air seemed to grow cold as the Coll brothers froze in their tracks, sensing something approaching them. They stood there for a moments until Devin broke their silence.

"Huh, I thought that was a- " he said before being interrupted. A dark, giant, snout entrapped Devin, furiously thrashing him within its grasp. The mouth belonged to a very large, and very bloodied Hellhound, with dark blue eyes. Devin screamed as the teeth of the dog pierced through his armor and shook him like a rag doll.

"Diablo!" Layla shouted cheerfully. "Come here, _perrito!_"

Dwayne rammed himself into the beast, forcing it to free his brother. The Hellhound clumsily leapt to join Layla. It stood, head placed low, snarling toward the Coll brothers. Diablo leapt at the two, just as Layla did. Like before, they fought in between instances of shadow-travel.

Cain came running in, blasting at monsters both in front and behind him. He slid over and stopped beside me, reloading his shotgun.

"I'm not too late to the party, am I?" he asked.

Just then, Harkin got a hold of Cam somehow and tossed him against a wall. He met the metal surface and subsequently the floor with a large thud. He wasn't moving much afterward. With Cam down, Harkin joined to help out his allies, the Coll brothers, against Layla and Diablo.

More monsters came running in, forcing Cain and I to handle them while Layla and Diablo tried to keep the other three busy.

Harkin got a hold of Diablo, lifted it over his head, then dropped into his knee. Diablo whimpered and trotted off, half-dragging itself away from the fight. That just left Layla, against three, five if you wanted to count Harkin for what his size actually counted for.

Cain fired his shotgun at the Coll brothers, forcing Devin to shadow-travel out of harm's way. Dwayne caught the full brunt of the shot, almost falling instantly.

"You guys didn't the Fourth any justice," Cain muttered. Harkin quickly intercepted Cain before he could another shot off and knocked him aside. Layla shadow-traveled and reappeared standing next to me.

It was just us two against Harkin and Devin Coll. Dwayne, however, staggered off to the side, his hand clutching his wounds. His bleeding immensely and in multiple places. He eventually laid down and stopped breathing. Dwayne knelt beside him, staying there in his final moments. I thought of Gwen and Joanna, and how they had been forever split apart by this war.

I knew that they weren't as innocent as my two cousins, but I knew the Colls felt something similar to what they did.

"You're going to pay for that!" Devin snapped at us, tears falling from the sides of his face. I readied myself, as did Layla, for what may have been our last battle. "All of you! You took everything from us!"

"Your father's honor could have been restored through other ways," I said to Devin, who was only getting angrier. "You could've helped make this place better. Instead, you betray the Fourth Cohort, the same cohort you, your brother, and your father had fought in! Not only that, you killed countless numbers of our parents. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of children without parents now because of you!"

"Only but a fraction of the price to make up for the infraction against the House of Coll," Devin responded viciously. "Retribution will be mine!"

"I'm sorry, Devin," I said. "But retribution is no longer yours to obtain."

Suddenly, a thick wire wrapped itself around Devin's neck, cutting so deep into his flesh as it pulled him up off of his feet.

I followed the wire and saw Trent pulling on it from atop the observation deck above us. He tied it against the railing, then dropped down, taking Devin's weapon in the process.

Trent stood by us, face bruised and bloody from days of torture and captivity, weapon in hand. He showed off the keys to his cell in front of all of us before putting them back in his pocket.

"You should've learned from your time in the Hermes cabin that you should never expect a descendant of Hermes to stay locked up," Trent taunted Harkin. I saw in the corner of my eye, Cameron and Cain working their way back up to their feet, despite looking very, very groggy and disoriented. "Its five against one. Even you know you can't take us all on at once."

Harkin stood his ground, squinting challengingly. I saw behind him, was the open harness for the power siphon. I looked to Layla and Trent, both nodding. The three of us came at him at once, attacking him at all sides, but slowly working our way towards the harness. We were just a push away before he dug in his heels and grabbed Layla and I by the necks. We were on our feet for one second, then almost off of them in the next, constantly switching back and forth. Trent rammed into Harkin and pushed with all of his force, but Harkin was not budging. Cam and Cain ran and joined Trent, trying to push him back into the harness. I saw Harkin's boots slowly, barely, dragging back across the metal floor.

With my hands, I beat against Harkin's arm and chest, as well as his head. Layla did what she could on her side and eventually, were dropped. Gasping for air for a moment, I joined the others and pushed against Harkin, who was now putting his full effort into pushing us back. Everyone except Harkin's shoes were scraping across the floor now.

It wasn't until a large black Hellhound leapt on top of us and pushed with us, did Harkin finally give way. We forced him to fall backwards, falling right into the harness, which we all hastily worked to strap him in to.

"Hit the switch!" I shouted to Cain, who was standing near the lever. He pulled on it, despite the initial resistance it gave. The power on, the rings around the harness began to spin very rapidly. The sound of a strange vacuum began to ring out. Harkin's power was being drained by the power siphon! "I got an idea! Use the Helios cannon to fire on the enemy!"

"Good thinking!" Cain shouted, who ran over to some of the controls and began messing around with them. "What kind of power output were thinking of?"

"Maximum power!" we all shouted.

"RAAAAAAARGGHHH!" Harkin shouted and jerked from within the harness as his power was rapidly seeped and leeched.

"HASTA LA VISTA," Cain shouted, slamming his fist onto a big red button.

The ship was still for a split second, before shaking violently. From a monitor, I saw the familiar pillar of fire rain down with the power of a thousand suns onto the enemy reinforcements. They were obliterated in less than seconds, leaving only miles of burning ash and black earth.

We all cheered at the small, but very significant victory.

_Gods of Olympus,_ Howard said in awe over the radio. _You did it._

_What in Tartarus was that?!_ Hannah shouted over the radio. _Did you guys do that?_

_Whatever you guys did, it helped us a lot!_ Blake said appreciatively. _That loosened up a lot of pressure over in my sector. I think some of them are pulling back!_

_Guys, next time you burn the whole sky, at least let me know when,_ Wyatt whined.

_Okay, cut the chatter_, Hannah said over the radio. _What's the sitrep?_

"We've lost Logan," I said after biting my cheek. "He died buying Cain time to blow the engines."

_Dude..._ Wyatt said solemnly.

_He died a hero_, Blake added. _The last thing he did was what he liked most - fighting. He couldn't have asked for more._

They didn't even know how. I told myself I wasn't going to look at his remains, so I turned the other way. It was so horrible what Harkin did, but now at least he was paying for it. Hopefully all of it.

"Um, there's a problem," Cain said as he was fiddling with some of the machinery. "When we used max power for that last shot, it sent part of the siphon into overload."

"_En ingles, por favor_," Layla requested.

"This thing is gonna blow," Cain explained. My heart raced with the sudden remembrance of Jake still being on the ship. "And judging from the firepower, its going to be a big boom."

_How big are we talking about?_ Howard asked. _Still within range of the city?_

"_Desafortunadamente,_" Cain said sadly. "And with the engine dead... "

_By Olympus, are you serious?_ Blake spoke over the radio. _What are we going to do?_

The four of us looked at Cain. He was the tech expert, after all.

"Hey, don't look at me," he said, putting his hands up. "I got nothing."

"I-I think I do," Cam spoke up. "But its going to require both your and Trent's help."

"What do you need us to do?" Trent asked, coming in close.

"If you can guide the ship, I can get off one last gust of wind," he explained. "You guys can manipulate ships, right? Even if they're flying?"

"I guess... " I said to myself. This ship felt... foreign to me, more dead than alive. Yes, I had been able to feel my way around it when I set foot on it, but it still felt pretty murky seeing my way through it.

_Whoa, whoa, hold up,_ Blake interjected. _That means both of you would have to stay on the ship when it does finally blow. You can't stay on there!_

I looked at Trent and I thought about that. Was I ready to give up my life like that? I was only 16 years old, with the whole world ahead of me, but... the alternative. If I didn't do this, then what would happen to the futures of Romulus and Remus, my cousins? All of the fighting yesterday and today would have all been for nothing. No, I had to this.

"I'll... I'll do it," I finally said, making up my mind. "But I need you guys to do something for me. Find my brother, find whoever is left on the ship and get them out of here and to safety. Please, for me."

"Of course," Layla said, running over to hug me. "I wish we didn't have to do this."

"I know... I know... " I said, exhaling.

Cain came over and gave me a salute, then hugged me.

"I probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," he said to me. Trent and Layla hugged each other. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, to which he was surprised, as was I. "I'll never forget that."

Layla whistled and soon a troop of armored pegasi flew in through one of the holes in the interior, landing beside us. We hopped on and took off. I split off from the others, heading for the bridge. Trent quickly guided the others to pick up Jake and the other captives, while I landed. Dismounting, I told the pegasi to leave.

_Good luck_, he said to me. He reminded me of War, who was another person I had lost today. So much death, how can someone stand against such hatred?

I stood at the bridge, believing this would be the best spot to manipulate the ship's entirety. From here, I could see the siege of New Rome in real time, explosions looking no larger than small flashes of light. Our positions were fighting hard not to lose any ground, but they were vastly outnumbered. The fighting went on from street to street, up until the no man's land in the forum.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, I saw two pegasi take off, both pulling chariots filled with young children.

_We're heading down now,_ Layla said over the radio. _Jake's with us. He's out cold, but at least he's breathing_.

"Thank you," I said. I was so glad no one could see me cry right now. "Thank you so.. so much."

I saw Trent land toward the bow, the front of the ship.

_Today has been quite an experience_, Trent said over the radio.

"How so?" I asked him.

_I found out that Tamara Ondrea's dad is... was, my dad,_ he explained after a moment. _I know, I know. Its a sad world we live in. Turns out, Harkin was the one to kill her mother. He'd been manipulating her from the start._

"Did you see her after you freed yourself?" I asked. That was awful, the way that had ended. Uncle Jacob was the father to two kids of different mothers... and in the end, Harkin killed both of Tamara's parents just to keep the secret. I thought only the Olympians were capable of this... but I thought wrong.

_She's still on the ship,_ he said. _No, I haven't killed her. I think the truth did. Hey, Katrina._

"Yeah?" I responded.

_What's your favorite color?_ Trent asked me over the radio.

"Red, I guess," I said.

_Red, that's a nice color,_ he said.

I laughed a little. Trent always knew how to make me laugh.

_Are you guys in position?_ Cam asked us over the radio. I looked around and couldn't see him, until I looked out of a window facing aft, toward the rear of the ship. He sat on his pegasus, with its majestic wings flapping.

"Yeah, I'm ready," I said, sighing.

_Same_, Trent echoed.

_Okay, I haven't really tapped into this much wind manipulation, so here goes nothing,_ Cam said. I saw him raise up his arms, and soon, the sky around us filled with swirling clouds.

_Cam, you should've told me about this,_ Trent joked over the radio. _I would've brought my kite and key._

We both laughed. If Cam wasn't too busy trying to blast us away, he would've laughed too.

_Okay, this should start you guys off,_ Cam prompted over the radio.

I felt the ship become fluid where I stood. I tried reaching out to it. Its hard to explain how Trent and I were able to move a flying ship without doing anything, but I can say that it felt like trying to roll around a giant boulder. Cam was simply providing the water for us to move it in.

_More wind,_ Trent requested, his tone serious now.

_Okay,_ Cam responded. In moments, I felt the ship become more manipulable. It was getting better, but we still needed more.

"More wind," I requested. "We're almost there."

The ship shook now, shaking more and more violently each second.

_No, no, no!_ Cam cursed over the radio. _I put too much!_

_Its okay,_ Trent said over the radio, trying to Cam. _We got it from here._

I saw the clouds picking up dust, swirling through the cavities of the ship and over the decks. It felt like we were being tossed around in a tornado, but Trent and I fought to keep course. We propelled over the mountains with the tornado thrashing and throwing us about. It felt like it was getting worse and worse.

_We're doing good, we're doing good,_ Trent said to me.

I suddenly felt a burning hot pain in my side. I looked down and saw the point of a bloodied blade sticking out from it. Upon further inspection, I saw it belonged to none other than Evan Pravus.

He quickly pulled it out, as I fell to my knees. I dragged myself to the window of the bridge, using it to help myself up. Pravus stood over by the doorway.

"Its... too late," I said. "You've already lost."

"It may seem that way, yes," he responded, his cold eyes of golden color glaring at me devilishly. "But I know how today ends."

"Yeah... " I said, pulling out my gladius, _Vicis_. Evan showed an expression like he was impressed. "... with your head."

"You've fought 10,000, experienced the death of countless loved ones, now slowly bleeding to death, and you want to fight me?" Evan mocked. "You're crazy."

"I'm a Darrow," I said, taking a step forward. "Remember it."

"So be it," he said, readying his weapon.

I went for the first attack, stabbing at his mid-body. He parried and walked off to the side. He wasn't striking back with riposte, which he easily could have. I stepped up my attacks with whatever energy I had left. I was losing a lot of blood, causing me to move slower and slower with each attack.

It was useless fighting him. There was no point. His ship was destined for the scrapyard, as were we. It felt so strange being in between two worlds, life and death, fighting for what seemed like nothing. What could he do?

Evan struck my wound with his pommel, causing me to stagger and cry out in pain. It burned so much, I could feel the pain, the rage, everything boiling up. My vision was fading where I stood, but I felt myself heating up so much. My vision grew cloudy... and _red_. My hands were shaking and trembling. Evan looked confused.

That was when I let out everything. All of my hate, anger, rage, love, passion, fear, hopes, everything. Everything I was expelled in a wave of force, obliterating everything and anything remotely close to me. Evan was knocked right off of his feet and thrown back by the sheer force. The wind from now-tornado blew over the now exposed bridge. Wind gusted around me, throwing my hair around.

Evan worked his way back up to his feet, unsure as to whether or not he should attack me. I wasn't going to hesitate. Not anymore.

I let loose a battle cry so harsh, so piercing and devastating that it too packed its own power. Evan reached for his ears, as they were soon bleeding from the pain.

"You're... a Darrow?" he asking, shouting over the gust of wind.

I responded, but felt that the words leaving my mouth were not my own.

"_Immo!_" I felt myself say. My words were Latin, the tongue of my people, the ancient Romans. "_Ego sum Ira_."

I am Ira.

I am wrath.

I walked to Evan and picked him up with frenzied strength and tossed him out of the bridge. I didn't care where he landed, I just wanted him away from.

But as soon as the frenzy had been induced, I felt it withdraw, leaving me in a state worse than before. My legs gave way, and I was slumped against part of a wall. My bleeding had not stopped. I felt my life slip away as I laid there. I didn't even realize I had Dad's last video scroll in my pocket. I pulled it out and started the video.

Dad's face appeared. His hair was very dark, and his eyes were very red.

**Katrina, I think this the last one.**

"I think... it is," I responded.

**And if you're watching this, then you've probably watched all of them. That's good. You've grown up so much, and I'm so proud of you.**

"Thanks... Dad," I said, my voice decreasing volume.

His eyes were starting to water.

What's wrong, Dad?

**I want you to know that I'm not going to be gone forever.**

I have you here, with me, Dad.

**Katrina, I want you, I need you, to grow up to be the beautiful, responsible, healthy woman you'll one day become. I can't let myself get in the way of that.**

What do you mean?

**You need to destroy the video scrolls, honey.**

What?

**These recordings are nothing compared to the memories you have. Go, and live. You are a part of this world, and will be a part of it.**

Dad, no...

**I love you, Katrina. Everything is going to be alright.**

I struggled there, whether or not I should heed the wishes of my dead father, or die with him near me in my final moments. Once again, I made the harder choice.

My hands shook and eyes watered as I struggled to tear apart the scroll. When it did finally begin to tear, the video was becoming corrupting putting Dad into repeating loop.

**Everything is going to be alright.**

**Everything is going to be alright.**

**Everything is going to be alri...**

**Everything is going to be...**

**Everything is goi...**

**Everything...**

**Ever...**

**...**

I cried to myself, using the paper of the scroll to pack up my wound. It burned as I put it in there, but I think Dad would have appreciated the gesture.

I laid out there until the end came, but it wasn't the detonation of a thousand suns at once. No, the ship was heading into something dark, mysterious, _dangerous_. I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew it wasn't where we supposed to be heading.

I laid out there as we were swallowed by it.

Into oblivion, I was undone.


End file.
